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Sunday

DhAkA: June 27, 2021; Ashar 13, 1428 BS; Zilqad 15,1442 hijri

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net

Regd.No.DA~2065, Vol.19; N o. 81; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00

international

Australia battles Delta

Covid surge as Europe

eases restrictions

>Page 7

SPortS

Italy ready for last

16 as Wales face

Denmark at Euro 2020

>Page 9

Govt wants to vaccinate

people quickly: Kamal

art & culture

Apurba, Sabila's

new drama

'Agdum Bagdum'

>Page 10

Countrywide Strict

lockdown begins

tomorrow

ShAfiquL iSLAM (ShAfiq)

Country wide strict lockdown is going to

start from Monday (June 28) to prevent

coronavirus infection and control the

death. This was informed in a statement

on Friday (June 25) night. However, after

the announcement of the lockdown, the

capital's markets were also flooded with

shoppers immediately. Most of the people

are stocking up on two-week products.

Their idea is to announce the lockdown

a week later but the time may

increase later. State Minister for Public

Administration Farhad Hossain said that,

the government and non-government

offices would be closed during the lockdown.

No one can leave the house without

an urgent need. The announcement

did not give any instructions on whether

the daily necessities shop or market will

remain open or closed. As a result, buyers

and sellers feel that the crowd in the market

has increased a bit.

People rushed to the markets: Most of

the people in the capital have been stockpiling

food for two weeks due to the lockdown

announcement. For this reason, the

crowd of buyers in the markets and super

shops of different areas of the capital

including Mohammadpur, Karwan Bazar,

Rampura, Rayer Bazar, Dhanmondi,

Uttara, Badda, Azimpur, Motijheel,

Khilgaon, Gulshan has been more noticeable.

Vendors saying most buyers are

shopping for seven to 14 days. They said

the price is the same as before.

BNP is party of

public property

looters: Quader

DHAKA : Awami League General

Secretary and Road Transport and

Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday

said BNP is a political party of 'branded

repressors' and looters of people's

property. He said this at a regular press

conference at his official residence here.

"Now BNP is very much frustrated as

well as their future is also very foggy.

'Octopus' of crisis has suppressed BNP.

Their politics is now on the verge of a deep

ditch," he said. Quader said BNP is making

baseless and ridiculous comments and

spreading falsehood against the government

to hide their own failures. BNP cannot

remain happy without spreading

hatred against the government, he said.

About BNP secretary general Mirza

Fakhrul Islam Alamgir's comment that

the country is now in deep crisis, the AL

general secretary said not the country,

rather BNP is going through deep crisis.

BNP is getting isolated from the people

day by day due to mistrust towards

top leadership, indecision, taking

stance against polls and practice of

undemocratic acts.

Zohr

03:44 AM

12:10 PM

04:40 PM

06:52 PM

08:18 PM

5:11 6:49

DHAKA : Finance Minister AHM

Mustafa Kamal yesterday said that vaccinating

the country's people against

the COVID-19 is a "must" while the government

is pursuing all possible means

to vaccinate people as fast as possible to

ensure their health safety.

"Although we're a bit concerned (about

the vaccines), but for now vaccination

against COVID-19 is a must. We'll have

to vaccinate people as fast as possible

and we're pursuing all possible means.

Insha Allah, you'll get good results," he

said. The Finance Minister was replying to

queries of reporters after chairing two separate

meetings virtually on the Cabinet

Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)

and the Cabinet Committee on

Government Purchase (CCGP).

Asked about the macroeconomic

attainments in the outgoing fiscal year

(FY21), he said that the government has

materialized almost all the projections

that it had made earlier although it

might seem "unbelievable".

"Even the toughest sector in this pandemic,

that is revenue collection, witnessed

a 17 percent growth alongside

attaining uptrend in the foreign currency

reserve and the inward remittance

flow. All turned out to be true, which

were supposed to happen. The expatriates

have sent money to Bangladesh out

of their love, passion and responsibility

to the countrymen," he said.

Kamal said that the inward remittance

flow is poised to reach $25 billion this

year which would be the highest ever for

Bangladesh. He said, adding, "We don't

believe in "no" rather we believe in "yes".

Almighty Allah has always stood beside us

and would also stand beside us in future

......May all of us remain healthy, sound

and our lives become beautiful despite the

pandemic."

Replying to a question about the government

steps for the poor ahead of the

hard lockdown to be enforced from

Monday, he said that the government

has been supporting the poor class as

cash transfers have already been directed

to the poor section of people.

He said the the identified poor would

be given support further.

The Finance Minister said there is a

separate committee of the government to

look into the matter side by side Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina herself is also

taking care of the issue adding that the

poor are being taken care of and would be

taken care of in the days to come.

Replying to another question about

the RMG owners plea to reschedule

their loans beyond June 30, he said

decision in this regard is yet to be taken

and when it would be finalized, then

everyone would come to know about

the developments.

BD to get 2.5 mn doses of

Moderna vaccine

DHAKA : Bangladesh will soon get 2.5

million doses of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine

under COVAX facilityas the country's

desperate wait for vaccines from many

sources is getting longer.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque and US

Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller

have confirmed it. COVAX, the global vaccine

alliance, has already written to

Bangladesh that the Moderna vaccine shots

will be arriving here within seven to10days.

Ambassador Miller tweeted saying that

Bangladesh will soon receive a gift of 2.5

million doses of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine

from the American people via GAVI.

"As the largest contributor to COVAX,

the U.S. is committed to increasing the

country's vaccine supply to beat the pandemic

here and worldwide,"hesaid.

The World Health Organization

(WHO) on Friday condemned a global

failure noting thattherich countries are

opening up societies and vaccinating

young people who are not at great risk

from Covid-19, while the poorest countries

cruelly lack doses.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen

on Tuesday said Covid-19 vaccine has

now apparently become another "tool of

exploitation"mentioningthat some rich

countries are holding back vaccine doses

beyond their internal demands.

"They (rich countries) assure us only

saying, you don't worry, but nobody gives

us vaccines. In some cases, they want to

know whether we (Bangladesh) will support

them on a particular issue (various

elections in global forums). That should

not be tagged with Covid vaccination. It

should be independent," he said without

naming any specific country.

Dr Momen said Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina has been saying from day one that

vaccines should be a public good and should

be affordable to everyone. "No discrimination

should be there.

Later in the afternoon, in the western part of the north of the capital, there is a beautiful view.

Nature lovers come to visit on holidays to see.

Photo: PBA

Crowds of homebound people at the Mawa ferry terminal due to 'severe lockdown' from

next Monday.

Photo: PBA

Efforts to be continued for

creating entrepreneurs in

rural areas : Nasrul

DHAKA : State Minister for Power,

Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul

Hamid on Saturday said efforts will

have to continue for creating entrepreneurs

in rural areas.

"If rural people are involved in economic

activities, then balanced development

will be ensured. 'My Village-My

City' program will be implemented

soon," he said this, while giving business

materials to lifeline consumers of

Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board

(REB) as the chief guest virtually.

The BREB arranged the programme

to provide business equipment worth

Tk. 4.23 crore to 385 lifeline consumers

under a project titled "Power to

improve quality of life" implemented by

the government and funded by Asian

Development Bank (ADB).

Welcoming, the initiative to make

lifeline consumers to entrepreneurs,

Nasrul said small entrepreneurs need

to be encouraged in poverty alleviation.

Apart from the project, it should also

be done under corporate social responsibility,

he added.

The state minister thanked the ADB

for providing finance to the project to

improve rural livelihood.

He said that the ADB could provide

finance for electricity from waste, recycling

plant, smart prepayment meter,

smart grid, electric vehicle, lithium battery

factory installation, underground

distribution lines, automation in power

People rush to return home

ahead of shutdown

Shimulia ghat under huge pressure

MUNSHIGANJ : Two days ahead of

the seven-day nationwide shutdown,

thousands of people overcrowded the

Shimulia ferry terminal on Saturday in

their frantic efforts to get back their village

homes.

People were seen flocking the

Shimulia-Banglabazar ferry ghat and

crossing the river since morning ignoring

health safety protocols.

All the 16 ferries are now operating to

manage the huge rush of home-bound

people.

Besides, many people gathered on the

other side of the ferry terminal to return

to Dhaka to get their emergency works

done.

Check-posts have been installed in

many important points as the government

earlier enforced restrictions to

limit movement in the district.

Launches, speedboats and trawlers

were seen carrying passengers beyond

their capacities.

The link road near platoon No 3 at the

ghat has gone under water to rains,

adding to the woes of passengers.

Mohammad Foysal, manager of

Bangladesh Inland and Water

TBT RePoRT

Bangladesh on Saturday reported 4,334

COVID-19 cases while the coronavirus

claimed overnight 77 lives, reports

"The tally of infections has surged to

8,83,138 as 4,334 new cases

were confirmed in the last 24 hours . . .

77 people died of COVID-19 during the

period," Directorate General of Health

Services (DGHS) said in its routine daily

statement. A total of 77 COVID-19

patients died in the last 24 hours increasing

the death toll from the pandemic to

14,053. It said 22.50 percent of the 19,262

samples collected in 24 hours were tested

positive while the infection rate was only

2.30 percent just on February 8 this year

as during the late winter season, the rate

started decreasing sharply.

The recovery count rose to 8,00,854

after another 3,295 patients were discharged

from the hospitals during the

past one day. The DGHS statistics showed

of the people infected from the beginning,

90.68 percent recovered, while 1.59 percent

died.

In the past 24 hours, the combined figure

of coronavirus patients in Dhaka city

and upazilas of Dhaka district is 1,328

Transport Corporation (BIWTC), said,

"All the ferries are operating now due to

huge pressure of homebound people. A

long queue of vehicles was also seen

near the ghat for crossing the river."

The government is going to enforce a

new nationwide "strict lockdown" on

Monday, as the country grapples with a

surge in coronavirus cases and fatalities

with the highly infectious Delta variant

playing havoc.

The restrictions will remain in place

for seven days, said Press Information

Department Principal Information

Officer Surath Kumar Sarker on Friday.

Government and private offices, barring

those of emergency services, will

remain shut during this period.

The National Technical Advisory

Committee on Covid-19 pandemic on

Thursday recommended imposing a

"nationwide shutdown" for two weeks

considering the worsening Covid-19 situation

in the country.

Community transmission of the highly

transmissible Delta variant of coronavirus

might be the reason behind the

current Covid-19 situation in the country,

said the committee.

Bangladesh reports 4,334

and energy sectors, etc.

fresh cases

while the tally of infections in the country

has stood at 4,334 during the same period.

The DGHS said as of June 26, 5,10,581

out of 8,83,138 were detected alone in

Dhaka district including the city.

The DGHS said among the total 14,053

fatalities, 7,489 deaths occurred in Dhaka

division, 2,670 in Chattogram, 961 in

Rajshahi, 1,133 in Khulna, 414 in Barishal,

518 in Sylhet, 569 in Rangpur and 299 in

Mymensingh division.

Bangladesh recorded the highest number

of COVID-19 fatality on April 19 this

year when the virus killed 112 people in a

day. The DGHS said Bangladesh's

COVID-19 confirmed cases crossed 5,000

mark on March 29, 2021 and 6,000 mark

on April 1, 2021 while it surpassed 7,000

mark on April 4, 2021. The country

recorded 7,626 COVID-19 cases on April 7

this year, the highest daily spike since the

outbreak of the pandemic, it added.

According to month-wise statistics last

year, 51 COVID-19 positive cases were

detected in March 2020, 7616 in April,

39,486 in May, 98,330 in June, 92,178 in

July, 75,335 in August, 50,483 in

September, 44, 205 in October, 57,248 in

November and 48,578 in December.


SuNDAY, JuNe 27, 2021

2

Dairy farmers

protest throwing

milk on the street

NATORE : Dozens of dairy

farmers on Saturday threw litres

of milk on a road protesting its

falling prices amid corona

lockdowns, reports UNB.

About50 dairy farmers staged

the protest near Bahadurpur

Bazar in Singra Upazila.

They complained that the

price of milk has been falling in

the village markets due to the

continuous lockdowns.

They said they don't even sell

the milk Tk. 20 per kg.

The farmers demanded that

Milkvita buys milk from them

under

government

management so they get fair

price.

Benapole: International

kidney trading racket

busted, one held

BENAPOLE : Border Guard

Bangladesh (BGB) has

claimed to have busted an

international human kidney

trading racket and detained a

gang member, reports UNB.

Members of the force also

rescued a man from the

clutches of the accused as he

was about to be trafficked to

India through the Benapole

border, the BGB said in a

release.

The accused has been

identified as Anisur Rahman,

27, son of Fazlul Haque of

Gazipur City Corporation

area. The rescued man, Md

Yunus Ali, 36, is the son of

Idris Ali Mandal of

Dhukuriabera village in

Sirajganj district.

Newly appointed Army Chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed on Saturday paid tribute to the war

heros through laying wreath at National Memorial.

Photo : ISPR

Reward announced for info on

missing Chinese engineer

MUNSHIGANJ : A 26-year-old Chinese

engineer, working in the Padma Bridge

Project, remains missing three days after

he presumably fell into the river near the

Shimulia ferry terminal in Munshiganj's

Louhajang.

Zhao Jianpeng, who was working for

Padma Bridge Project contractor China

Major Bridge Company, went missing on

June 22.

China Major Bridge Engineering

Company announced a Tk2 lakh reward

for information about Zhao's

whereabouts, Mawa river police Officerin-Charge

of Sirajul Kabir said Friday.

"There was no trace of the missing

person, although the fire service, coast

guard, river police; and army personnel

working in the security team of the

project conducted rescue operations

from Tuesday night to Friday," Sirajul

said. "However, the operations will

resume Saturday."

Zhao was tasked with installing a

power tower (number 13) of the National

Grid as part of the project. He had gone

to the tower point for work at 5pm and

went missing around 8:30pm on June

22. His colleagues alerted police after

failing to locate him.

It is suspected that Zhao fell into the

Padma river. However, the local and

foreign engineers, who were also

working there, could not confirm if Zhao

fell into the river since no one saw it

happening.

Sirajul said, "Several engineers and

other workers stay at a makeshift camp

near the ferry terminal in Louhajang,

and they use boats to go to the tower

point in the river daily." "On Tuesday

night, Zhao went to the tower point for

work but went missing around 8.30pm.

His colleagues alerted us after failing to

locate him," he added.

Nuruzzaman elected 1st Vice

President of Asia Startup

Committee of WBAF

Mohammad Nuruzzaman, Group CEO of Daffodil Family,

has recently been elected as the 1st Vice President of Asia

Startup Committee of the World Business Angels

Investment Forum (WBAF). He was also appointed as

Senator of World Business Angels Investment Forum

(WBAF) last year. He will represent Bangladesh in the

grand assembly of WBAF scheduled to be held in February,

2022, a press release said.

This achievement of Mohammad Nuruzzaman paved the

way for the expansion of Bangladeshi Startups in the

international arena. From now on, the access for

Bangladeshi young entrepreneurs to get various global

opportunities has opened up. On the and inputs from the

grassroots levels have not been taken into consideration.

The stimulus package or other incentives work only when

there is an honest business environment, which is lacking

in the country," she said. other hand, local angel investors,

incubation centers, private equity firms, co-investment

funds, and potential entrepreneurs in Bangladesh will be

able to interact with the world's leading business leaders.

Mohammad Nuruzzaman is leading 41 sister concerns of

Daffodil Family and simultaneously working continuously

behind growing up the alumni of different educational

institutions of Daffodil Education Network as Startups.

Beside this, he has associated himself as an Angel investor

with some successful Startups as well.

WBAF is the world's largest forum for startups and

entrepreneurial development. 138 high commissioners and

senators from 79 countries are associated with this forum.

The WBAF Business School has 50 teachers in 32 countries

and 5 International Working Committees. The WBAF

World Congress is held yearly in February.

CGS webinar on Budget 2021-2022:

Business friendly or lacks

transparency ?

DHAKA : Speakers at a webinar on Friday

engaged in a healthy debate on if the national

budget 2021-2022 was a 'one step forward' or

if it severely lacked accountability and

transparency.

Planning Minister M.A. Mannan MP stated

that the government is on the right track in

formulating the budget, reports UNB.

He also stated that a deficit budget is

necessary for growth and poverty alleviation.

The planning minister said that the budget

was business-friendly and "one step forward"

for the country, but he did highlight that he has

not seen the rate of growth in Bangladesh's

economy that he had expected to see yet.

However, Center for Policy Dialogue

executive director Fahmida Khatun said that

the implementation of the budget lacks

accountability and transparency, and

highlighted the lack of discourse on the budget

at the parliament.

"The budget has been prepared using a topdown

approach, and inputs from the

grassroots levels have not been taken into

consideration. The stimulus package or other

incentives work only when there is an honest

business environment, which is lacking in the

country," she said.

According to her, the budget also doesn't

provide sufficient guidance of recovery for

Bangladesh after the pandemic.

They came up with the remarks while

addressing an online discussion organised by

the Centre for Governance Studies on the

proposed National Budget for 2021-2022.

Former commerce minister and BNP

standing committee member Amir Khasru

Mahmud Chowdhury said that t people are too

focused on the details of the budget and not

paying attention to the actual unique economic

model in Bangladesh. He stipulated that the

whole economy has been geared to serve the

2106-180

interest of certain syndicates who are

responsible for vast amounts of money

laundering and black money. Since these

money laundering schemes are also factored

into the GDP measure of the country, he

argued that key indicators of development in

Bangladesh are being distorted. He

emphasised that political decisions have to be

made while keeping the interests of the general

public and not powerful groups and

syndicates.

Besides, former National Board of Revenue

chairman Muhammad Abdul Mazid, Dhaka

University professor Rashed Al Mahmud

Titumir and Economist Muhammed Parvez

Imdad were among the notable speakers at the

event.

Former UPDF member

hacked dead in Khagrachhari

KHAGRACHHARI : A former member of the

United People's Democratic Front (UPDF)

was hacked to death by miscreants in

Dighinala upazila of Khagrachhari on Friday.

The deceased was identified as Amar Jiban

Chakma (40), son of Suresh Chandra Chakma

of Hazarachora Bridge area.

He was picked up from his in-law's house in

Noapara village of the upazila at the late hours

of Friday and was murdered.

Vijay Chakma, father-in-law of the deceased,

said when Amar was sleeping after dinner

some people woke him up and took him to

Baradam East Khamarpara and hacked him to

death with sharp weapons. According to locals

Amar was an active member of UPDF (Prasit

Khisa group).

Dighinala Police Station officer-in-charge

Piar Ahmed said police recovered the body.

Legal action will be taken, he said.

GD-1065/21 (5x3)

GD-1064/21 (11x3)


SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 2021

3

State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Md. Zakir Hossain MP was the chief guest at the

workshop on the achievements of Rocks Face-2 MIS Cell project of the Department of Local

Government Engineering on Saturday.

Photo : Courtesy

Monirul elected president, Asad

GS of Police Service Association

DHAKA : Special Branch Chief

(Additional Inspector General) of

Police Md Monirul Islam and Deputy

Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan

Police (DMP) Md Asaduzzaman were

elected president and general secretary

of Bangladesh Police Service

Association (BPSA) respectively.

Both of them were elected unopposed

at the 41st annual general meeting

(AGM) of the association at Rajarbagh

Police Lines Auditorium. The 121-

member committee of the BPSA was

also formed in the AGM.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) and

Chief Advisor of the association Dr

Benazir Ahmed was present at the

AGM as the chief guest, while DMP

Commissioner and President of the

Association Md Shafiqul Islam

presided over the function.

The IGP said as an important

organization of members of the Police

Cadre Service, Bangladesh Police

Service Association is playing a

significant role in solving professional

problems.

"We are celebrating the golden

jubilee of independence in the ongoing

Mujib Borsho. Bangladesh has

achieved a lot in the last 50 years.

Hon'ble Prime Minister has set the

target for the implementation of

Vision-2041. In this situation, the role

of the association must be strong and

the course of action has to be

determined according to the

expectations of the state, society and

the people," he added.

Dr Benazir urged all to perform

duties with responsibility and

professionalism.

Md Mosharraf Hossain, additional

inspector general of APBN, conducted

Out on joyride, woman

raped by six on moving

bus in Chattogram

Chattogram : Out on a joyride with a

male acquaintance, a21-year-old woman

was allegedly held hostage and raped by

six men on a moving bus in Mirsarai

upazila of Chattogram.

All the six men, including the bus

driver and helper, have been arrested

from different parts of the district, police

said on Saturday.

The crime occurred in the intervening

night of Wednesday and Thursday

morning, said officer-in-charge of

Mirsarai Police Station, Mujibul

Rahman.

In her complaint to the police, the

woman claimed that her male

acquaintancetook her out on

Wednesday evening. The duo had

boarded the bus from their native

Sitakunda upazila.

However, when the bus reached the

Hafiz Jute Mill area, the driver and the

helper forced all passengers to get down.

But they didn't let the woman and her

acquaintance to get off. Subsequently,

the duo, along with the four others, took

turns to rape her.

The woman's ordeal didn't end there.

She was forcibly taken to a house in the

upazila and raped over the next 24

hours, according to the complaint.

On her complaint, police lodged a case

and arrested the six men from different

parts of Sitakunda and Mirsarai

upazilas, and Chattogram city on Friday

night.

The arrestees have been identified as

Ashraful Islam, 23, Shahadat Hossain,

19, Nizamuddin Rana, 20, Belal

Hossain, 23, Mohammad Ismail, 31, of

Sitakunda upazila and Mohammad

Sagar Hossain, 22, of Mirsarai upazila.

The woman, a garment factory worker,

was sent to Chattogram Medical College

and Hospital for a medical examination.

SM Rashidul Haque, superintendent

of District Police, said, "We have taken

the case seriously and six people were

arrested in this connection."

the election as the chief election

commissioner, while DIG AFM Masum

Rabbani and DIG AYM Belalur

Rahman were election commissioners.

Additional IGs, heads of various

police units and members of the

association were present on the

occasion and all unit heads outside

Dhaka were connected virtually.

Mohammad Zayedul Alam, general

secretary of BPSA and Police Super of

Narayanganj District delivered the

welcome address and conducted the

program.

Treasurer of the association and

DMP Joint Commissioner Md Anisur

Rahman presented income and

expenditure of the year 2020.

The meeting also observed a minute

silence in mourning the police

personnel who died during the COVID-

19 pandemic.

Govt to procure

33.60 lakh MMBtu

LNG from USA

DHAKA : The

government will procure

some 33.60 lakh MMBtu

LNG from M/S Excelerate

Energy LP, United States

with around Taka 448.17

crore in a bid to meet the

growing demand.

The approval came from

the 23rd meeting of the

Cabinet Committee on

Government Purchase

(CCGP) in this year held

yesterday virtually with

Finance Minister AHM

Mustafa Kamal in the chair.

Briefing reporters after

the meeting virtually,

Cabinet Division

Additional Secretary Md

Shamsul Arefin said that

Petrobangla would procure

such quantity of LNG

where the unit price for per

MMBtu LNG would total

$13.42.

He informed that the

day's CCGP meeting

approved a total of 16

proposals.

Bangladesh Chhatra Union formed a human chain program in front of National Press Club on Friday

to meet their various demands.

Photo : Star Mail

Govt works for poverty

alleviation on priority

basis: Swapan

DHAKA : State Minister

for Local Government,

Rural Development and

Cooperatives Swapan

Bhattacharjee yesterday

said the present

government is working for

poverty alleviation on

priority basis.

"Lakhs of families have

been provided with

houses with land

ownership and by this

initiative, Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina has set an

example of humanity

before the world, which is

a landmark step in poverty

alleviation," he said,

reports BSS.

"The government has

been working on poverty

alleviation on priority

basis," he added.

He was speaking

virtually from his

residence at a seminar on

'Possibilities and Things to

Do' at Bangabandhu Palli

Poverty Alleviation and

Rural Development

Academy (BAPARD) in

Kotalipara, Gopalganj,

said a press release.

DPS STS School Dhaka

rejoices in the achievements

of Class of 2021

DPS STS School Dhaka (Delhi Public)

celebrated its Graduation Ceremony for the

Class of 2021 recently. The ceremony was

conducted virtually through Zoom alongside

a continuous broadcast via Facebook Live.

Ninety-two students received their

Diplomas and Twelve students obtained

their school completion certificates.

Nayeema Siraj, Student of Grade 12,

delivered the Valedictorian speech during

the Graduation Ceremony. Music and Dance

Teachers put up mesmerising performances

embellishing the Graduation evening's

celebration.

On this occasion, Dr Shivananda CS,

Principal, DPS STS School Dhaka, said, "The

Class of 2021 has proven that they are highly

resilient as they have withstood a demanding

situation with unanticipated changes to their

senior year of the school amid a global

pandemic. Each student stayed committed

to their academic goals as they promptly got

accustomed to the virtual learning model.

The year's graduation ceremony has been

extra special for all families and teachers,

and I am extremely proud to see my students

receive their Diploma."

The Ceremony was attended by the

esteemed Board members, key personnel of

STS Group, Mrs. Madhu Wal - Outgoing

Principal, Dr. Shivananda CS - Principal, and

Mr. Bijo Kurian - Vice Principal of DPS STS

School Dhaka. Mr. Emran Jamshed Taher,

Cambridge First Language English

Assessment Examiner and First Language

Instructor, DPS STS Senior School,

moderated the entire event.

Furthermore, numerous teachers,

students, and parents also highlighted the

Ceremony with their valuable presence.

During the programme, surprise greeting

videos from International educators - Ankur

Vohra, Jindal Global University, India; Biggs

Darren, Tokyo International University,

Japan; Carl Tang, The Hong Kong

Polytechnic University, Hong Kong;

Moustafa Ezz, Huron, Western University,

Canada; Tanushree Bhattacharya,

University of British Columbia, Canada; and

Chris Gibson, University of Manchester, UK

were broadcast.

Finally, multiple teachers expressed

heartfelt messages and felicitations to the

Graduating Batch on their achievements.

The Ceremony concluded with a scintillating

yet nostalgic video shared by the Graduates

of Class 2021 to celebrate their success and

shared their fond memories of High School.

DPS STS School Dhaka (Delhi Public) celebrated its Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2021

recently.

Photo : Courtesy

Skill training, funds help distress

women becoming entrepreneurs

DHAKA : The indomitable

entrepreneurship spirit of Bangladesh's

women, inspired by Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina, has showed that they

just need skill training and small capital

to turn themselves not only into a selfreliant

but also a source of creating jobs

for others.

According to the World Economic

Forum (WEF), Bangladesh is now the

second most gender equal country in

Asia, top in South Asia and ranks 47th

among 144 countries of the world in the

Global Gender Gap Index.

"You just need to get a small support

along with your determination and

courageous to achieve your goal," said

Pranitra Sarkar, owner of a Jamdani

cottage industry of Rupganj that has

employed 22 workers.

Sarker, one of the Bangladesh's

unbeatable women whose Jamdani

sharees are now being sold from Taka

20,000 to 45,000 in home and abroad,

thanks to the support of Bangladesh

Small and Cottage Industries

Corporation (BSCIC) that actually plays

the role behind her success.

With the spirit of being entrepreneur,

Sarkar left her job in 2009 and took

training from BSCIC on sewing

Jamdani. "After the training, I took loan

from BSCIC and set up a jamdani

factory in a small scale," she was

describing her journey on the road to

success.

After setting up the factory, Sarkar

didn't need to look back as her products

have attracted consumers from the

beginning.

"I have expanded capacity of my

factory gradually … I started with three

workers with limited production. Now

22 workers are working here and I have

started exporting my sharees abroad"

said Sarkar, who started her business

with Taka 20 lakh capital that has now

reached at Taka two crore.

She also thanked the women and

children affairs ministry that gave her

opportunities to participate in different

fairs even in different countries with her

products.

"The current government is very

women friendly. The government

initiatives helped me a lot to make

linkage with the local and international

markets as well," said Sarkar, who

recently opened an outlet at

Bashundhara shopping mall in the

capital. Like Sarkar, Nazma Akhter of

Godabari in Rajshahi district is another

woman entrepreneur who took training

on shoe making from BSCIC in 2007.

"After getting the training, I left my

paramedical job and set up a cottage

shoe making factory after the name of

my daughter 'Kushumkoli' with an

initial investment of Taka 20,000," said

Nazma.

Within 12 years, like a touch of magic

wand Khatun is now owner of two

export-oriented shoe factories in Savar

EPZ where 400 workers are employed.

Currently, shoes producing at

Khatun's two factories worth Taka 12-13

crore, are being exported to different

countries including Malaysia. "It's true

... now when I got to look back it seems

a fairy tale to me as well … yes I did it,

but it was not easy to reach here as a

woman. I would like to tell my other

fellow women entrepreneurs just don't

be scare …keep your courage … surely

one day you will reach your desire

destination of success," Khatun said in

an inspiring voice.

Another entrepreneur Rezbin

Hafeeza of Gaibandha, who also took

BSCIC training on shoe making, also set

up two shoe factories at Jirabo in

Ashulia and Battala in Gaibandha and

has employed 80 workers there.

"I started my business with only Taka

3.5 lakh … the BSCIC training really

helped me a lot to run the business

usefully," Hafeeza said with a

triumphant voice.

BSIC has so far empowered 9,755

women by imparting training in

different trade as well as allocating

loans while during the current fiscal

year, 301 women established

themselves as entrepreneurs with the

BSCIS support in various sectors.

BSIC chairman Mushtaq Hasan said

his organization has disbursed Taka 50

crore loan to women in the current

fiscal (FY21) while it has decided to

allocate another Taka 100 crore for

providing as loan to women in the

upcoming fiscal year 2021-22.

Hasan said initiatives have been

taken to launch various programs in the

upcoming financial year with special

emphasis on women's self-employment

through training.

BSCIC has been implementing

various initiatives with short-term,

medium-term and long-term plans to

help the government achieving

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

by 2030 and building a prosperous

Bangladesh by 2041 through creating

10 million new entrepreneurs with 20

million job opportunities.

Hasan said a MoU has been signed

between BSCIC and Karmasangsthan

Bank to provide loan to unemployed

youths trained under the 'Bangabandhu

Youth Loan' programme marking the

birth centenary of Father of the Nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman.

Under the MoU, the BSCIC chairman

said, loans ranging from Taka 20,000

to Taka 5,00,000 are being provided to

young people, aged between 18 and 35,

who have already received business skill

training from BSIC in different trades.

Apart from these, the BSIC is setting

up its own platform for organizing small

and cottage industry fairs and online

marketing in different districts.

Shamsun Nahar Bhuiyan, a member

of the Parliamentary Standing

Committee on Labor and Employment

Ministry said under the 'Social Security

Protection Strategy Paper 2018', the

government has taken various

initiatives to involve women in the

mainstream of development.

As woman empowerment is one of

the core commitments of the current

Awami League government, Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina formulated and

adopted the progressive 'National

Women Development Policy' in 2011

for the first time with a set of goals to

socially, economically, politically and

legally empower the women of

Bangladesh.


SunDay, June 27, 2021

4

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com

Sunday, June 27, 2021

Increase cotton

production locally

The export earnings of the country's readymade garments

(RMG) sector could be substantially greater if the RMG

industries could be backed up adequately by value-addition

through backward linkage activities. Presently, nearly the value of

60 per cent of foreign currencies earned through RMG export are

spent on importing raw cotton, fabric and yarn to support the RMG

industries.

But the greater value of such imports can be saved through

import substitution if raw cotton, the primary raw material for

RMG sector's linkage industries, is grown in greater quantities in

the country. Such cotton can be utilised to make yarn and fabric for

the RMG industries locally and, in that case, value addition in the

textile sector can be so much more and the amount of the country's

retained foreign exchange earnings from the textile sector should

increase spectacularly .

Raw cotton produced in the country meets only about 5 per cent

of the total demand. The rest 95 per cent are imported. Total cotton

production in the country in recent years has been about 14,000

metric tons, on average, annually. But experts are of the opinion

that total yields of cotton can be fast increased by extending cotton

cultivation in the south-western parts of the country.

Bangladesh has very suitable lands and climate for cotton

cultivation. Apart from the south-western districts of Jessore,

Kushtia, Jhenaidah and Chuadanga, no activity of the Bangladesh

Cotton Development Board (BCDB) is seen in other areas to

encourage cotton cultivation among farmers.

Many places of the country are suitable for cotton cultivation but

the potential of extending cultivation in these areas is not being

tested by BCDB though it was set up over a decade ago. But the

present worldwide scarcity of cotton and its soaring prices, has also

put into sharp focus the imperative of growing cotton within the

country to reduce import dependency for the product and find price

relief as well.

It is believed that greater activism on the part of BCDB, plus

government's incentives and support prices for cotton growing ,

can enthuse a larger number of farmers to take up cotton cultivation

as a remunerative commercial crop in between production of

foodgrains at many different parts of the country. Besides, there is

also the prospects of successfully carrying on cotton cultivation in

marginal lands which are not being farmed intensively at present

throughout the year.

Cost analysis has shown that it would even make economic sense

to release part of the good cultivable lands to grow cotton instead of

foodgrains. In that case, it might be necessary to import some

quantities of foodgrains. But the import costs of the foodgrains are

likely to be notably lower in comparison to the value added earnings

of the RMG sector through import substitution.

An action plan needs to be in place for greater production of raw

cotton in the country. To satisfy growing demand of cotton with

quality, high yielding best quality clone cotton plant has to be

imported to produce cotton in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association

(BKMEA) says that production of raw cotton could be increased

manifold in some years from now through making up a task force

to implement an action plan . The BCDB should play the leading

role in this area.

It is possible to increase the area under cotton cultivation by

adopting profitable cotton based cropping pattern, replacing

tobacco cultivation, bringing areas of river bank and char land,

drought and saline prone areas, hill slopes and valley areas, agroforestry

system and other cropping systems under cotton

cultivation. Another practical option is to increase cotton

production by increasing per hectare yield through high yielding

modern varieties, hybrids, transgenic cotton and improved

management practices. Besides, quality seeds are the prerequisites

for better yield. Intervention of modern production technologies

can lead to increased yield of locally produced cotton to the world

average.

Cotton seed is a good source of edible oil. Sixty percent of the

harvested seed cotton is seed through which we can get huge

quantity of seed. Private ginneries produce cotton crude oil. Some of

them are used in soap industries and rest of the crude oil is refined

by refinery industry for edible purpose. The speller machine used by

the private ginneries for oil extraction can extract 10 to 18% crude

oil from cotton seeds. In Pakistan, 68% of the edible oil requirement

is fulfilled from cotton seed. India is also one of the big countries of

cotton seed oil producer. This oil contains more nutritional value

than any other edible oils like soybean, mustard oil and sunflower

oil. Like Pakistan, China and India are also good cotton oil

producers in the world. The oil cake is generally used for livestock

feeding. Cotton oil cake has high demand in the market for multiple

uses.

The cotton oil cake is a by product of cotton seed and it is

produced during oil extraction. The oil cake is generally used for

livestock feeding and fish feed. Cotton oil cake has high demand in

the market for multiple uses with high percentage of protein. Cotton

oil cake is also used as organic fertilizer like mustard oil cakes and

it is better than mustard oil cake.

Cotton stalk (after harvest) is a source of fuel /pulp/particle

board. Man height cotton plant is a good source of fuel which is

scarce in many developing countries. One hectare of land can

provide 3000-4000 kg fuel wood through which farmers can earn

extra income. India has been producing eco-friendly particle board

using cotton stalk. Latest news is our BJMC is going to install a

machine with the technical assistance of China. Good quality offset

paper will be produced by mixture of cotton stalk and jute plant

(50% cotton stalk+50% jute plant) and this is a value addition for

cotton. Cotton plants have tap root system. It takes nutrients from

the deeper part of soil. The leaves of cotton plant that fall in the soil

increase soil fertility.

BCDB has to strengthen and build a close relation with other

NARS institutions and other research organizations inside and

outside the country. Also it needs more international collaboration

with leading cotton growing countries and cotton research

institutions for developing hybrid and Bt varieties.

Power of respect and productive criticism

Iknow that I am not alone in being

aghast at some of the scenes that

have emerged on television over the

last few weeks with the state election in

West Bengal. Politics is not in my

domain, and I do not follow any political

debates. However, many of my work

colleagues and social associates have

their vested interest in some form or

shape in India, particularly West Bengal.

They talked about politics, monoculturalism,

multi-culturalism,

secularism and political dynamism in

West Bengal. I am not a political critic.

But as a member of the public, I have a

social duty to raise my voice against any

social odds.

I am always sceptical about politics,

not because it is terrible but because

political culture works in many parts of

the world. Anyone entering the political

arena needs to be ready for the dangers

that wait. For the word 'arena' is just

right; in many respects, the world they

enter has echoes of the gladiatorial

arenas of Ancient Rome. Politics has

always been a dirty business, not

because politicians are necessarily

dishonest people, but because power by

its very nature is a magnet for some who

see opportunities for wealth. Many

politicians are people of principle and

conviction, but others have less lofty

motives and have no concern for those

whose careers they damage and

destruction along the way. Instead of

wanting to serve the public or the nation,

they are self-serving and self-obsessed.

I have been watching several TV

programmes and news, talk shows and

political debates in recent weeks. To my

surprise, I am amazed to see some of the

discussions by intellectuals, mainly

academics, doctors, politicians, political

analysts, and legislators. The ways they

debate, use inappropriate words,

abusive attitude, rude outburst and

swearing exchanges, shouting each

other's, not allowing others to discuss

and try to lead the discussion is entirely

awful. The exact parallel can be drawn

concerning Bangladesh, particularly in

media appearance and communicating

and expressing our views on others. A

recent Bangladeshi TV channel's Talk

show has grabbed my attention. A

prominent Bangladeshi TV channel was

airing this talk show in which a senior

Govt. official and legislator, who is also a

prominent businessman, talked very

rudely with intimidating and abusive

manner. At one point, he made

unacceptable comments to the anchor

and calling him "stupid". Such mean

behaviour is utterly inappropriate. Such

patterns of behaviour are not an

example of a one-off incident. Instead,

this becomes the norms, habits and

routines of conducting one's behaviour.

I have often witnessed when our socalled

civil society members or

politicians express their opinions or

points of view, they only try to defend

their opinions without appropriate

justification and do not want to follow

other's thoughts. People can easily

understand their dismissive treatment

through disinterested mood or insidious

nonverbal behaviour by raising

eyebrows or making gestures. To

demonise others or opponents by

making insensitive jokes or taunting

others, patronising behaviour or

showing arrogancy becomes part and

parcel of our culture of debate or making

criticism. Making negative comments

about others or colleagues and

undermines others are just as new

normal.

The malicious and spiteful personal

attacks in public space or national

platforms are not acceptable by any

measures and are likely to get worse in

the coming weeks and speak volumes of

how corrosive and hateful parts of our

society have become. It seems that

rather than respecting the fact that

others hold a different opinion, it is now

acceptable to set about savaging them.

What message does this send out to the

young? The very people who purport to

be champions of free speech and liberal

values seem to imbibe a poison that is

eating away at the fabric of society. Such

behaviour and attitudes need to be

addressed as a matter of urgency. We

need a more enlightened society, one

that endeavours to lift people rather

than generalising and label them.

We all have the right to express our

opinion as it is well protected and

respected in many developed societies. I

firmly believe that everyone's personal

views should be respected and should

not be threatened. However, we should

realise that there is a clear distinction

between what we say and how we say,

our conduct, not the content. Our

behaviour should be in line with societal

moral, rules and parameters. If our

freedom of expression or activities

causes severe disorder, violence and

goes against societal values, creates

disharmony, this will be seen as a misuse

of liberty, unlawful. Our freedom of

expression can be challenged and

restricted by the authorities. We all have

the right to speak. However, if we enjoy

the essence of human rights, we must

also take responsibilities for human

wrongs. This is when we get moral

justice. Free debate, good actions,

convincing arguments are essential to

counter hatred, prejudices, and

inequality in society.

The recent events in West Bengal,

India, are a great reminder of our moral

and societal obligation. Whatever

happened to social distancing? Those

who claim to care about the public

suffering from COVID-19 are now out

behaviour thorough irresponsibly,

potentially endangering lives. What we

DR P R DaTTa

are witnessing is not a legitimate victory

parade; it is verging on anarchy.

Unsavoury elements are seeking to

exploit legitimate hurt and direct it at

others. I was appalled to see that the

mobs heavily beat an 80-year-old

mother. What has been happening is

truly scary and deeply disturbing.

However, this is not part of my

discussion; instead, my focus is on

abusive behaviour toward others.

Dreadful things are happening across

the world, and not only in West Bengal.

We could all do with finding out what is

happening elsewhere, not in the media,

The malicious and spiteful personal attacks in public

space or national platforms are not acceptable by any

measures and are likely to get worse in the coming weeks

and speak volumes of how corrosive and hateful parts of

our society have become. It seems that rather than

respecting the fact that others hold a different opinion, it

is now acceptable to set about savaging them.

educating ourselves, and then finding a

constructive way to do something

positive about it. We can make a

difference. Let us make it a positive one.

We need respect, understanding and

love. At this time, I would ask where the

love is? I find myself wondering what we

are doing to inspire the young. Are we

encouraging them to think for

themselves? Are we helping them to

learn to seek new knowledge? Have we

provided them with the compass to

navigate their way to the wisdom of the

past?

Some people in our society are very

corrosive, greedy, dishonest and selfish.

Power is abused at every stage of our

national life, a thousand time a day by

some individuals. As a member of civil

society, we always forget that we have a

civic duty to create a harmonise and

inclusive community based on the

premise of zero tolerance of bullying,

injustices, and abusive disrespectful

behaviours. We all must work

assiduously in developing young

people's self-esteem, level of confidence,

and moral character. Behavioural code

of practices, principles and norms

should be established so that we all can

follow them to ensure power is not

abused. Members of civil society,

politicians, educators, doctors, artists,

experts, and industry leaders should

take bold steps to ensure they have a

respectful attitude towards others with a

calm, tolerant, and sincere mindset.

Often, we see people interrupting during

the discussion, disregards other's

opinion, showing disinterest with

dismissive treatment or insidious nonverbal

behaviour, appearing dull during

debate on others. These should be

avoided to make the discussion

productive and fruitful.

In many TV talk shows or debate

sessions, people like to show mood

matching behaviour. Shouting against

shouting, anger against anger,

intimidation against intimidation, if

DR. John C. hulSman

someone disrespect, others follow the

same patterns. This type of behaviour

will not help to solve many challenging

issues we are facing within a society.

Such behaviours can cause serious

problems not only to the opponents, but

it has severe societal consequences.

During the discussion, it can create a

hostile and unhealthy environment in

which individuals' contribution can be

reduced and undermines morale.

Therefore, all concerned institutions,

including Government, private and non-

Governmental entities at all local and

national level, must create a behavioural

code of conduct to enhance interrelationships

and collaborations

between colleagues and others. Zero

tolerance policies should be applied

against any misbehaviour through

appropriate enforcement mechanisms.

To ensure the environment is inclusive

and friendly, intervention policy is

essential as required to address such

behaviours regardless of the offender's

societal status, position, wealth,

popularity and connections.

Enforcement consistency should have

adhered to so that it will be widely

accepted by society.

When we criticise others, we should

have the courage to make positive and

constructive criticism rather than

making negative and fault-finding

feedback. It is not right to state what is

wrong or intentionally demonising

others. Constructive criticism should

come with suggesting appropriate

avenues for improvements. Such type of

criticism not only helping individuals

reflect on their mistakes and learn about

the areas of improvements. If criticisms

come with specific personal interest or

motivation such as displaying own's

superiority, demonising others,

degrading or humiliating, such criticism

will not be taken seriously or will cause

harm. Therefore, criticism must be

friendly, helpful and respectful.

However, society is such abrasive that

constructive criticism is unknown to

many. When criticism provides in an

impersonal and respectful fashion

without any personal attack, it offers

adequate support for others.

Contemptuous criticism is unhealthy for

personal growth and societal values.

Respect comes with openness,

appreciation, honesty and a tenacious

mindset, and such a person is always

calm and does not lose their temper in

any situational context. Such disposition

is an essential human character, and

society benefits from such values. Albert

Einstein asserted this notion with the

following quote "I speak to everyone in

the same way whether he is the garbage

man or the president of the University".

Very profound and powerful statement

that shown equality and great respect to

others. A great human character. When

people respect others, they cannot talk

bad things, demonise or underestimates

others.

The Writer is Executive Chair,

Centre for Business & Economic

Research, UK

Ghastly election of Raisi portends a darkening Middle East

While the uncomprehending Biden

administration may greet last

week's Iranian election with a

shrug - noting that Supreme Leader Ali

Khamenei has the lion's share of the power

anyway - the elevation of Ebrahim Raisi to

the presidency actually has significant and

far-reaching consequences. Sadly, almost

all of them point to darkening days for a

region desperately in need of sunlight.

Rather than myopically focusing on the

details of the election just passed, political

risk analysis impels us to look more

broadly at what the result actually means.

First, as the Greek philosopher Heraclitus

put it so well: "Character is destiny." In

Raisi's case, his future course can be clearly

seen by looking at his striking biography.

Raisi came to prominence early, as a firebreathing

prosecutor in the late 1980s,

when at the age of just 27 he served on

what became known as the "death

commission" in Tehran. In 1988, this panel

oversaw a series of mass trials that led to

the execution of between 5,000 and

30,000 regime dissidents in the wake of

the brutal Iraq-Iran war. Moving up, since

2019, Raisi has served as the country's

chief justice. It was in his current role that

Raisi advocated impunity for Iranian

officials and security forces accused of

killing protesters during the mass unrest in

the country in 2019.

Throughout his career, Raisi has been

the hardest of hard-liners. His personal

fealty to Khamenei is well documented. In

fact, it is widely expected that Raisi's

elevation to the presidency (he is just 60) is

but a stepping stone to his succession as

supreme leader as Khamenei's chosen

successor (he is 82). Such an outcome has

historical precedent, as this was precisely

how Khamenei himself came to supreme

power following the death of Ayatollah

Khomeini in 1989. In other words, in

political risk terms this was not just

another election; rather it was Iran's

succession plan put into practice.

Second, Raisi's elevation means that the

old, tired argument that Iran's "moderates"

can be supported by the West from outside

the country has at last definitively been

proven false. With Raisi as president, hardliners

control all of Iran's state institutions

and levers of power. There simply can no

longer be any doubt that a revolutionary,

hard-line Iranian policy agenda is what the

world is facing.

There can no longer be any doubt that a

revolutionary, hard-line Iranian policy

agenda is what the world is facing.

Third, Iran's economy is a mess and

Raisi has no domestic answers as to how to

salvage it. Following Donald Trump's

highly effective sanctions campaign of

"maximum pressure," Iran's economy

nosedived by 4.8 percent in 2018 and a

further 9.5 percent in 2019. Oil exports, the

lifeblood of the Iranian economy, dipped

from 2.3 million barrels per day in 2018 to

just 1 million in 2019. At the same time,

according to the International Monetary

Fund, raging inflation is set to increase

from an already stratospheric 36.5 percent

in 2020 to 39 percent this year.

Fourth, all of this economic woe means

Tehran will be looking outside its borders

to find a way to somehow right the ship of

state. Only by both quickly reinstating the

nuclear deal with the West and courting

Second, Raisi's elevation means that the old, tired argument that

Iran's "moderates" can be supported by the West from outside the

country has at last definitively been proven false. With Raisi as president,

hard-liners control all of Iran's state institutions and levers of

power. There simply can no longer be any doubt that a revolutionary,

hard-line Iranian policy agenda is what the world is facing.

new ally China can Raisi and the other

hard-liners hope to keep the economic wolf

from the door. With Iran having entered

into a new, anti-American, strategic

alliance with Beijing, look for Raisi to try to

quickly expand ties with a rising China,

which is keen to find long-term sources of

energy for its ever-expanding economy.

Fifth, due to all this, look for the Joint

Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to

be quickly renewed between Tehran and

the West. Raisi has said he grudgingly

supports the renewal of the JCPOA "as

long as it serves Iran's interests." A deal is

likely to come about sooner rather than

later, potentially before the official

handover of power in Iran in August, as

this would suit the domestic political

interests of the outgoing Rouhani

government (looking for a historical

legacy), the incoming Raisi government

(which doesn't want to get its hands dirty

negotiating with the Americans), and the

impatient Biden administration (that is

eager to lock down a deal so it can pivot to

the Indo-Pacific).

Sixth, such a deal will amount to a

diplomatic disaster, as it will be a strategic

capitulation entirely on Iran's terms. It will

let Tehran off the economic hook; as Raisi

put it, "The US is obliged to lift all

oppressive sanctions against Iran." Raisi

went on to say that he wouldn't bow to

international calls for a broader discussion

(as the Biden White House has been

pushing) about the development of Iran's

highly advanced ballistic missile program

or its fervent support for terrorist and

militia groups across the region (in Yemen,

Iraq, Syria and Lebanon), saying these

were "non-negotiable" issues.

If this is so, and there is every reason to

believe Raisi means what he says, the

Biden administration's efforts to make Iran

"a more normal" regional power have just

gone up in smoke. Instead, while

conceding nothing new, Iran will see its

coffers replenished, fortified by an

unthinking White House, as its

expansionist regional policy is given new

life.

Americans like to say "elections have

consequences." Unfortunately for the rest

of the world, the political rise of Raisi may

well prove to be disastrously

consequential.

Dr. John C. Hulsman is the president

and managing partner of John C.

Hulsman Enterprises, a prominent

global political risk consulting firm. He

is also senior columnist for City AM, the

newspaper of the City of London. He

can be contacted via

chartwellspeakers.com.


SunDay, June 27, 2021

5

The pioneering black ballerinas

an artist's impression of the Chicxulub crater shortly after it was created by an impact from

space.

Photo: Detlev van ravenswaay

A crater’s age may reveal why

dinosaur became extinct

beCKy Ferreira

Some 65 million years ago, a rock from

outer space slammed into Earth,

wreaking havoc on life in its wake and

leaving a large crater on our planet's

surface.

No, it's not the one you're thinking of.

Boltysh crater, a 15-mile-wide formation

in central Ukraine, may not be as famous

as the Chicxulub crater under the

Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, which is

directly implicated in the death of the

dinosaurs and many other species about

66 million years ago. Nevertheless,

Boltysh has long led to debate among

scientists. Some have suggested that the

crater, which is buried under more than

1,000 feet of sediment, could have

formed before or after the Chicxulub

event, making its role in this cataclysmic

period unclear.

Now, a team led by Annemarie

Pickersgill, a research associate at the

University of Glasgow, estimates that

Boltysh formed about 650,000 years

after the Chicxulub catastrophe. The

refined age has implications for

understanding how Boltysh affected this

tumultuous time, and can shed light on

our own era of sudden climate change.

For a study published on Friday in

Science Advances, the researchers

performed a technique known as argonargon

dating with rocks extracted from

Boltysh. They also analyzed specimens

from a geological layer in Montana, the

K-Pg boundary, that marks the dramatic

transition wrought by the Chicxulub

impact. This comparative approach,

along with advances in radiometric

dating methods, yielded a more refined

sequence of events than previous studies.

"It's the first comparison of Boltysh

samples directly to K-Pg boundary

samples," Dr. Pickersgill said. "Because

we analyzed everything under the same

experimental conditions, we could

neglect a lot of the uncertainties that we

would get if, say, one lab had analyzed the

K-Pg boundary and a different lab had

analyzed Boltysh."

The new age estimate places Boltysh

about a half-million years after the

dinosaur-killing asteroid, contradicting

the conclusions of a 2010 study in

Geology that dated it to a few thousand

years before Chicxulub. The researchers

who wrote that paper embraced the new

findings, and some became co-authors of

Dr. Pickersgill's study.

"The guys who did the previous work,

who ended up being my collaborators, are

really good scientists," she said. "When I

came up with an answer that apparently

conflicted with their results, I was

surprised and somewhat alarmed. But we

double-checked everything and the data

is what it is."

"It was a very nice science experience

for me because they were so happy to

adopt the new hypothesis and come up

with new interpretations," she added.

For years, scientists speculated that the

Boltysh and Chicxulub impactors may

have acted as a one-two punch that

shattered life at the end of the Cretaceous

period. The revised age suggests that the

impact that made the Ukrainian crater

did not factor into the apocalyptic die-off

of the dinosaurs, though it may have

interfered with the recovery from the

mass extinction.

Dr. Pickersgill's team raises the

possibility that Boltysh could be linked to

a warming event, called the lower C29N

hyperthermal, which occurred around

the same time, though confirming that

relationship would require more

substantial evidence.

Sean Gulick, a geophysicist at the

University of Texas at Austin, said that

the new age for Boltysh appeared sound,

but that he doubted the impact had any

connection to the coincident

hyperthermal or the pace of recovery

from the extinction.

"This is an important study" that can

help "unravel this question about

whether smaller events have had major

climate effects or not," Dr. Gulick said.

"I think in this case, the evidence would

be that it didn't, necessarily," he added.

"But the only way we can figure that out is

if you get these really precise dates."

Pinpointing these connections not only

opens a window into Earth's ancient

history, but it can also help us prepare for

modern human-driven climate change.

"Many of my colleagues are

paleoclimatologists - they're studying the

effects of climate in the past - and the

reason they're doing that is out of

nerdiness, but also to understand what's

happening to the climate right now," Dr.

Pickersgill said.

Ken Amor, a geochemist at the

University of Oxford, also emphasized

the importance of assessing the risk of

Boltysh-scale impactors striking Earth.

Chicxulub-level impacts appear to be

extremely rare "Black Swan events," he

said, but our planet is vulnerable to

smaller objects, like the roughly onemile-wide

impactor that produced

Boltysh.

"Something like that falling on London

or Paris or somewhere would just totally

wipe it out," Dr. Amor said. "The chances

of that happening on human time scales

is quite small, but there does always

remain that possibility."

He added that one way to build on the

new study was to collect more samples

from Boltysh and other impact craters to

further refine their ages and the

properties of the objects that created

them. Dr. Pickersgill would be happy to

contribute. "I always need more rocks,"

she said.

Karen Valby

Last May, adrift in a suddenly

untethered world, five former ballerinas

came together to form the 152nd Street

Black Ballet Legacy. Every Tuesday

afternoon, they logged onto Zoom from

around the country to remember their

time together performing with Dance

Theater of Harlem, feeling that magical

turn in early audiences from skepticism

to awe.

Life as a pioneer, life in a pandemic:

They have been friends for over half a

century, and have held each other up

through far harder times than this last

disorienting year. When people reached

for all manners of comfort, something to

give purpose or a shape to the days, these

five women turned to their shared past.

In their cozy, rambling weekly Zoom

meetings, punctuated by peals of

laughter and occasional tears, they

revisited the fabulousness of their

former lives. With the background of

George Floyd's murder and a pandemic

disproportionately affecting the Black

community, the women set their sights

on tackling another injustice. They

wanted to reinscribe the struggles and

feats of those early years at Dance

Theater of Harlem into a cultural

narrative that seems so often to cast

Black excellence aside.

"There's been so much of African

American history that's been denied or

pushed to the back," said Karlya

Shelton-Benjamin, 64, who first brought

the idea of a legacy council to the other

women. "We have to have a voice."

They knew as young ballet students

that they'd never be chosen for roles like

Clara in "The Nutcracker" or

Odette/Odile in "Swan Lake." They were

told by their teachers to switch to

modern dance or to aim for the Alvin

Dance Theater of Harlem, around 1970.

Ailey company if they wanted to dance

professionally, regardless of whether

they felt most alive en pointe.

Arthur Mitchell was like a lighthouse

to the women. Mitchell, the first Black

principal dancer at the New York City

Ballet and a protégé of the

choreographer George Balanchine, had

a mission: to create a home for Black

dancers to achieve heights of excellence

unencumbered by ignorance or

tradition. Ignited by the assassination of

the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he

founded Dance Theater of Harlem in

1969 with Karel Shook.

Lydia Abarca-Mitchell, Gayle

McKinney-Griffith and Sheila Rohan

were founding dancers of his new

company with McKinney-Griffith, 71,

soon taking on the role of its first ballet

mistress. Within the decade, Shelton-

Benjamin and Marcia Sells joined as first

generation dancers.

Abarca-Mitchell, 70, spent her

childhood in joyless ballet classes but

never saw an actual performance until

she was 17 at the invitation of Mitchell,

her new teacher. "I'll never forget what

Arthur did onstage" she said of his Puck

in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at

New York City Ballet during a Tuesday

session in January. "He made the ballet

so natural. Suddenly it wasn't just this

ethereal thing anymore. I felt it in my

bones."

Marcia Sells, 61, remembered being 9

and watching with mouth agape when

Abarca-Mitchell, McKinney-Griffith and

Rohan performed with Dance Theater in

her hometown, Cincinnati. "There in

front of me were Black ballerinas," Sells

said during a video call in April. "That

moment was the difference in my life.

Otherwise I don't think it would've been

possible for me to think of a career in

ballet."

Shelton-Benjamin left her Denver

ballet company, where she was the only

Black dancer, turning down invitations

from the Joffrey Ballet and American

Ballet Theater, after reading a story

about Dance Theater of Harlem in

Dance magazine. Abarca-Mitchell was

on that issue's cover - the first Black

woman to have that honor. At her

Harlem audition, Shelton-Benjamin

witnessed company members handdying

their shoes and ribbons and tights

to match the hues of their skin. Here, no

traditional ballet pink would interrupt

the beauty of their lines. "I had never

seen a Black ballerina before, let alone a

whole company," Shelton-Benjamin, 64,

said during a February Zoom meeting.

"All I could think was, 'Where have you

guys been?'"

Finding one another back then, at the

height of the civil rights movement,

allowed them to have careers while

challenging a ballet culture that had

been claimed by white people. "We were

suddenly ambassadors," Abarca-

Mitchell said. "And we were all in it

together."

They traveled to American cities that

presented such a hostile environment

that Mitchell would cancel the

performance the night of, lest his

company feel disrespected. But they also

danced for kings and queens and

presidents. In 1979, a review in The

Washington Post declared their dancing

to be a "purer realization of the

Balanchinean ideal than anyone else's."

Their adventures offstage were similarly

electric, like the night in Manchester

when Mick Jagger invited them out on

the town. "We walked into the club with

him and everybody just moved out of the

way," Shelton-Benjamin said.

Photo: Collected

KaTe MaSur

For two and a half centuries, starting

long before the establishment of the

United States, people of African

descent fought against slavery every

way they could. Americans legally

bought and sold Black people as

property, and enslaved status passed

through generations, from mothers

to their children.

It took a deadly civil war, at a cost of

more than 650,000 lives, to rid the

United States of that institution. To

commemorate Juneteenth - now

established as a national holiday on

June 19 - is to recognize the

importance of slavery in United

States history, to remember the

horrors of bondage and the jubilation

of freedom.

Yet abolishing slavery was only one

piece of a complex puzzle. It marked

an ending, confirmed on Dec. 6,

1865, with ratification of the 13th

Amendment. But it was also part of a

much longer struggle to secure for

Black Americans the rights and

privileges promised to white

Americans, a struggle that began

long before Juneteenth and endures

today.

For decades before the Civil War,

Black Northerners and their white

allies fought to rid their

communities, and the nation, not

only of slavery but of racist laws and

institutions.

At the time of the American

Revolution, slavery was legal

throughout the British North

American colonies. Though

Northern states, starting with

Vermont in 1777, gradually abolished

slavery, many subjected free Black

people to discriminatory regulations.

Over time, the white Northerners

who supported such measures

insisted that newly freed people were

Juneteenth and its legacy

poor and therefore likely to become

criminals or public charges, or that

Black people were racially inferior, or

that the United States was destined

to be a white nation - or some

combination of all those ideas.

Those views were enshrined in laws

in the Midwest, where newly

admitted states, starting with Ohio in

1803, imposed special residency

requirements on free Black people,

barred their children from public

schools, forbade them from testifying

in court cases involving whites, and

prohibited Black men from voting.

Black Americans mobilized against

those laws. In Ohio and elsewhere,

they were a minority of the statewide

population and recognized that they

needed white supporters if the

discriminatory laws were to be

repealed. They held meetings,

organized petition drives and issued

addresses to the white citizens of

their states.

In the Northeast, Black sailors who

had been unjustly incarcerated while

their ships were in Southern ports

told their stories to sympathetic

whites, who in turn pushed the

legislatures of Massachusetts and

New York to provide funding for

rescuing Black Northerners from

Southern prisons. In the early 1840s,

Black and white Americans

petitioned Congress to secure for free

Black sailors basic rights to pursue

their livelihoods, to move freely and

to the presumption of innocence.

Congress did not act. In fact, when

Congress did pass legislation that

involved the rights of free Black

Americans, it was the oppressive

a contemporary depiction of viewers of the statue "The Freed Slave,"

on view at the Centennial exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876.

Photo: Getty images

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which

made free Black Northerners more

vulnerable than ever to kidnapping

and enslavement. The Northern

struggle made clear that abolishing

slavery would not, on its own, lead to

justice or even basic fairness for free

Black Americans.

In October 1864, just before

President Abraham Lincoln was

elected to a second term, a large

group of Black activists met in

Syracuse, N.Y. Many had been

writing, speaking and working for

racial justice for decades. Most were

from the free states, but a handful

made the trip from slave states like

Tennessee, Virginia and Florida.

In an "Address to the American

People," the convention insisted that

the nation must not only abolish

slavery but erase "from its statutebooks

all enactments discriminating

in favor or against any class of its

people" and establish "one law for the

white and colored people alike." The

vote, the delegates insisted, was "the

keystone in the arch of human

liberty" without which "the whole

may at any moment fall to the

ground."

The Syracuse meeting also had a

practical vision. It founded a

National Equal Rights League to

demand "a recognition" of Black

Americans' rights as citizens of the

United States. Northern and

Southern delegates returned home to

start their own branches. In fall 1865,

George T. Downing of Rhode Island,

who attended the Syracuse meeting,

led an effort to send Black lobbyists

to Washington to push for federal

legislation that would affirm the

principle of racial equality.

Republicans in Congress were

ready. Some had been involved in

prewar Northern struggles for racial

equality. Others recognized that the

nation was at a crossroads and that

abolition would mean little without

federal protections for Black

Americans.

The Congress that met in 1865-66

adopted the nation's first civil rights

statute, the Civil Rights Act of 1866,

and the 14th Amendment. These

measures passed despite fullthroated

Democratic opposition,

including charges - so familiar today

- that the new policies interfered with

the prerogatives of the states and

gave Black Americans unfair

advantages over whites.

Juneteenth, then, should serve not

only to remind us of the joy and relief

that accompanied the end of slavery,

but also of the unfinished work of

confronting slavery's legacy. Thanks

to the efforts of generations of

activists, laws that explicitly

discriminate based on race are a

thing of the past. But today's

conservatives echo their 19thcentury

predecessors when they

justify federal inaction on voting

rights with arguments about states'

rights and spurious claims of

electoral corruption. These

arguments join a growing attack on

the teaching of American history

itself.

Americans need to understand that

the original Constitution, which

protected slavery while providing few

federal safeguards for individual

rights, did not create a path toward

abolition or racial equality. To the

contrary, before and after

Juneteenth, it was Black people and

their white allies who fought to

eradicate the racist legacies of slavery

and who demanded that the federal

government take action to protect

the rights of all.


SuNDAY, JuNE 2, 2021

6

A day-long captivating kite flying competition was held at Bilbalia village of Mahadan union in

Sarishabari of Jamalpur on Saturday to revive the ancient culture and tradition. Instant prizes

are handed over to the winners in each round. Photo : M.A Rouf,Sarishabari (jamalpur)

Three die, 128 more

test positive for

COVID-19 in Noakhali

NOAKHALI : A total of 128

more people were tested

positive for Covid-19 in the

last 24 hours in the district

after testing 442 samples at

Abdul Malek Ukil Medical

College COVID-19

laboratory and Noakhali

Science and Technology

University rapid antigen

testing centers, reports BSS.

The infection rate is about

28.96 percent in the district,

said civil surgeon of the

district Dr Md Masum

Iftakhor.

Of the total positive cases,

54 are in Sadar upazila, 23 in

Companiganj upazila, 19 in

Begumganj upazila, 13 in

Kabirhat upazila, eight in

Sonaimuri upazila, four in

Senbagh upazila, three in

Suborno Char upazila, two

in Chatkhil upazila and two

in Hatiya upazila of the

district, civil surgeon Dr

Iftakhor, told BSS yesterday

afternoon.

Meanwhile, three people

have died with coronavirus

infection in the last 24 hours

in the district. The total

number of infected people in

the district stood at 10,813

while the recovery count

rose to 7,410 in the district,

the civil surgeon said.

Rezaul gives importance

on research for

development of country

DHAKA : Fisheries and

Livestock Minister SM

Rezaul Karim yesterday laid

importance on conducting

research works for the

overall development of the

country, reports BSS.

"Research is essential for

the development of the

country," said the minister

while addressing a

workshop on 'Inception,

Progress and Review of

Poultry Research and

Development Strengthening

Project' being implemented

by Bangladesh Livestock

Research Institute (BLRI) at

a city hotel as the chief guest.

He added that the

livestock sector has an

opportunity to play a huge

role in the development and

prosperity of the country.

9 more die, 362 test positive for

Covid-19 afresh in Rajshahi

RAJSHAHI : A total of 362 more people

have tested positive for Covid-19 in seven

districts of the division on Friday, raising the

division's Covid caseload to 51,917.

With nine more fatalities from the disease

reported afresh on the day, the death toll

reached 809, including 369 in Bogura and

145 in Rajshahi with 82 in its city, said Dr

Habibul Ahsan Talukder, divisional director

of Health.

The new daily infection figure shows a

significant declining trend compared to the

previous day's figure of 871, said the health

department sources.

Among the infected people, 37,190 have, so

far, been cured from the lethal virus with 196

new recoveries reported on Friday.

A total of 5,439 infected patients are now

undergoing treatment at different

designated hospitals here.

Besides, all the positive cases for Covid-19

have, so far, been brought under necessary

treatment while 11,549 were kept in isolation

units of different hospitals for institutional

supervision.

Of them, 8,371 have by now been released.

On the other hand, 93 more people have

been sent to home and institutional

quarantine afresh while 173 others were

KHULNA : A total of 848 more people

have tested positive for Covid-19 in all 10

districts of the division in the last 24

hours till 8 am on Saturday, climbing the

number of infected patients to 50,965,

sources said.

A number of 14 more fatalities were

reported afresh during the time in the

division, said Dr Rasheda Sultana,

divisional director of Health.

With the new fatalities, the death toll

from the disease reaches 953.

Among the deaths, the highest 235 are

in Khulna, followed by 185 in Kustia, 129

in Jashore, 82 in Chuadanga, 81 in

Jhenidah, 74 in Bagerhat, 66 in Satkhira,

40 in Meherpur, 36 in Narail and 25 in

Magura, Dr Sultana said.

The new daily infection figure shows a

decrease compared to the previous day's

figure of 1,322, said the health

department sources.

"Among the infected people, 36,125

have, so far, been cured from the lethal

virus with 203 new recoveries found

Saturday morning," said Dr Sultana,

adding that a total of 6,447 infected

patients are now undergoing treatment

released from isolation during the last 24

hours till 8 am yesterday.

Of the total new positive cases, the highest

171 were detected in Rajshahi, including 157

in its city, followed by 56 in Bogura, 43 in

Pabna, 40 in Chapainawabganj, 39 in

Sirajganj, seven in Joypurhat and six in

Naogaon districts.

With the newly detected patients, the

district-wise break-up of the total cases now

stands at 16,002 in Rajshahi, including

12,988 in its city, 3,940 in Chapainawabganj,

4,122 in Naogaon, 3,171 in Natore, 3,122 in

Joypurhat, 13,332 in Bogura, 4,223 in

Sirajganj and 4,005 in Pabna.

A total of 81,844 people have, so far, been

kept under quarantine since March 10 last

year to prevent the community transmission

of the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19).

Of them, 74,923 have, by now, been

released as they were given clearance

certificates after completing their respective

14-day quarantine period.

Meanwhile, the surge of Covid-19 cases has

been continuing in all eight districts of the

division since the very beginning of the

second wave making the division a hotspot of

the deadly virus.

14 die, 848 more covid-19 positive

in Khulna division

at different designated hospitals here.

Besides, all the positive cases for

Covid-19 have, so far, been brought

under necessary treatment while 51,254

were kept in isolation units of different

hospitals for institutional supervision.

Of them, 36,861 have been released so

far.

On the other hand, 523 more people

have been sent to home and institutional

quarantine afresh while 521 others were

released from isolation during the last 24

hours.

Of the total new positive cases, the

highest 470 were detected in Jashore,

followed by 172 in Khulna, 77 in Kustia,

43 in Satkhira, 24 Chuadanga, 16 in

Meherpur, 15 in Bagerhat, 14 Jhenidha,

nine in Narail and eight in Magura in the

division.

With the new detected patients, the

district-wise break-up of the total case

now stands at 14,333 in Khulna, 11,190

in Jashore, 6,989 in Kustia, 3,904 in

Jhenidah, 3,220 in Satkhira, 2,977 in

Chuadanga, 2,882 in Bagerhat, 2,470

in Narail, 1,556 Meherpur and Magura

1,436.

In the ongoing corona epidemic lockdown, it has been accused of teaching English privately in

various educational institutions, charging extra free and salary in the name of assignment in

Begumganj of Noakhali.

Photo : Manik Bhuiyan

42 more test

positive for

Covid-19 in

Mymensingh

MYMENSINGH : A number

of 42 persons have tested

positive for Covid-19 in last

24 hours, raising the total

infection to 7337 in the

district.

Some 42 more people

were detected Covid-19

positive after testing 349

samples in Mymensingh

Medical College Hospital

(MMCH) along with Upazila

Health Complex during the

time, Civil Surgeon Office

sources said.

A number of 81 people so

far died of Covid 19 as 6655

infected patients have been

cured.

Besides, a total of 77407

samples have been collected

and 77343 were tested so far.

Some 12 Covid patients

are now undergoing

treatment in Intensive Care

Unit (ICU) and 185 are in

Covid unit of MMCH,

sources added.

300 more distressed

people get PM's

gift in Rajshahi

RAJSHAHI : A total of 300

more distressed and lessincome

people including tailor,

rickshaw-puller and

transgender hardest-hit by the

Covid-19 pandemic were given

financial assistance as gift of

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Each of them was given Taka

1,000 in cash at a simple

ceremony yesterday.

On behalf of the Prime

Minister, district administration

distributed the amount at a

function on Shilpakala Academy

premises through maintaining

health rules to tackle the Covid-

19 spread.

Deputy Commissioner Abdul

Jalil handed over the gift as the

chief guest.

Additional Deputy

Commissioners Nazrul Islam

and Shariful Haque and District

Relief and Rehabilitation Officer

Aminul Haque were present on

the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion,

Abdul Jalil said the government

under the dynamic and

visionary leadership of Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina

remained beside the public in

general.

Banaripara police administration takes

exceptional steps to deter adolescents

and youth from immoral activities

S Mizanul Islam, Banaripara (Barisal)

Correspondent: The police administration

has taken exceptional steps to prevent

teenagers and youths from engaging in

immoral activities in Banaripara. In this

regard, teenagers and young people in the

area have started to be endangered by

watching various games and pornography

on Android phones. In order to stop them

from committing immoral acts, OC Md.

Helal Uddin seized Android mobile phones

of more than one and a half hundred

teenagers and youths from different areas

including Banaripara municipal town and

Sadar Union for the last few days. Later, the

teenagers and youths were brought to the

police station along with their guardians.

OC Helal Uddin discussed the evils of eveteasing,

drugs, terrorism-militancy, games

and pornography. He also instructed the

parents to play their key role in guiding and

taking care of the children. Later, the

teenagers and youths were released on bond

with their parents.

In this context, Banaripara police OC said.

Helal Uddin said that awareness counseling

has been done by bringing the teenagers to

the police station to get them back on track.

As a result, they have promised not to use

Android mobile phones in the future. He also

said that after the opening of educational

institutions, he would hold awareness

meetings for students in every school, college

and madrasa

A doa mahfil and discussion meeting were held in Gaibandha remembering

the late people of Prabin Haitashi Sangha of Gaibandh. Photo : Rafiqul Islam

Covid-19 cases rapidly cross

24,000 in Rangpur division

RANGPUR : The number of

coronavirus (Covid-19) cases

has rapidly crossed the

24,000 mark with diagnosis

of 275 afresh in Rangpur

division where the positivity

rate continues rising in recent

weeks.

Health officials said the

number of Covid-19 cases

quickly climbed to 24,073 as

275 more patients were

reported after testing 1,018

samples of the division with

the positivity rate of 27.01

percent on Friday.

Earlier, the daily positivity

rates were 41.74 percent on

Thursday, 37.85 percent on

Wednesday, 35.95 percent on

Tuesday, 34.58 on Monday,

38.94 percent on Sunday and

35.20 percent on Saturday

last in the division.

The district-wise break up

of total 24,073 patients

stands at 5,672 in Rangpur,

966 in Panchagarh, 1,757 in

Nilphamari, 1,343 in

Lalmonirhat, 1,575 in

Kurigram, 2,849 in

Thakurgaon, 7,947 in

Dinajpur and 1,964 in

Gaibandha of the division.

"The positivity rate

continues rising with an

increasing number of deaths

amid a declining recovery

rate in the division," said

Focal Person of Covid-19 and

Assistant Director (Health)

for Rangpur division Dr ZA

Siddiqui.

Meanwhile, four more

Covid-19 related deaths were

reported from Rangpur,

Lalmonirhat, Thakurgaon

and Dinajpur on Friday

raising the number of

casualties to 487 in the

division.

The district-wise break up

of the 487 fatalities stands at

109 in Rangpur, 176 in

Dinajpur, 70 in Thakurgaon,

38 in Nilphamari, 27 in

Kurigram, 22 in Panchagarh,

23 in Gaibandha and 22 in

Lalmonirhat districts of the

division.

"The average casualty rate

currently stands at 2.02

percent in the division," Dr

Siddiqui added.

Talking to BSS, Acting

Divisional Director (Health)

Dr Abu Md Zakirul Islam said

a total of 1,49,769 collected

samples were tested till

Friday, and of them, 24,073

were found Covid-19 positive

with an average positivity

rate of 16.07 percent.

Meanwhile, the total

number of healed Covid-19

patients reached 19,296 with

recovery of 132 more infected

patients on Friday in the

division where the average

recovery rate currently stands

at 80.16 percent.

"The average recovery rate

of Covid-19 infected patients

was 97.55 percent more than

three months ago on March 9

last in the division where it

sharply dropped by 17.39

percent to 80.16 on Friday,"

Dr Islam said.

The 19,296 recovered

patients included 4,962 of

Rangpur, 827 of Panchagarh,

1,588 of Nilphamari, 1,122 of

Lalmonirhat, 1,258 of

Kurigram, 1,722 of

Thakurgaon, 6,033 of

Dinajpur and 1,784 of

Gaibandha districts in the

division.

Among the 24,073 infected

patients, 285 are undergoing

treatment at isolation units,

including 23 critical patients

at ICU beds and 11 at High

Dependency Unit beds, after

recovery of 19,296 patients

and 487 deaths while 4,216

are remaining in home

isolation.

Strict restrictions witnessed in various places in Jashore's Bagharpara to prevent

corona infection. All shops are closed from 8 am to 12 noon except for raw

and drug stores. The upazila administration and the police have been very

active in enforcing the ban.

Photo : Shahid Joy


Australia's largest city entered a two-week lockdown on Saturday to contain a sudden Covid

surge, but several European nations lifted restrictions despite the global spread of a highly contagious

form of the disease.

Photo : AP

Australia battles Delta Covid surge

as Europe eases restrictions

SYDNEY : Australia's largest city entered

a two-week lockdown on Saturday to

contain a sudden Covid surge, but several

European nations lifted restrictions

despite the global spread of a highly

contagious form of the disease.

While vaccination drives have brought

down infections in numerous-mostly

wealthy-countries, the rise of the Delta

variant which first emerged in India has

stoked fears of new waves of a virus that

has already killed nearly four million

people.

Sydney's normally bustling

harbourside centre was nearly deserted

after the lockdown took effect at

midnight, a shock for a city that had

returned to relative normality after

months with very few cases.

The new restrictions apply to some five

million people across Sydney in addition

to other nearby population centres.

"The Delta variant is proving to be a

very formidable foe," said Brad Hazzard,

the health minister for New South Wales

Death toll in Florida collapse

rises to 4; 159 still missing

SUNFSIDE : With nearly

160 people unaccounted for

and at least four dead after a

seaside condominium tower

collapsed into a smoldering

heap of twisted metal and

concrete, rescuers used both

heavy equipment and their

own hands to comb through

the wreckage on Friday in an

increasingly desperate

search for survivors, reports

UNB.

As scores of firefighters in

Surfside, just north of

Miami, toiled to locate and

reach anyone still alive in the

remains of the 12-story

Champlain Towers South,

hopes rested on how quickly

crews using dogs and

microphones could

complete their grim, yet

delicate task.

"Any time that we hear a

sound, we concentrate in

that area," Miami-Dade

Assistant Fire Chief Raide

Jadallah said. "It could be

just steel twisting, it could be

state.

"No matter what defensive steps were

taking at the moment, the virus seems to

understand how to counter-attack."

Globally, the pandemic is still slowing

down, with the World Health

Organization (WHO) reporting the

lowest number of new cases worldwide

since February and decreasing deaths

attributed to the coronavirus.

But concerns over the Delta variant

have prompted new restrictions in

countries that had previously managed

to control their own outbreaks.

"Globally there is currently a lot of

concern about the Delta variant," WHO

chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told

a Friday press conference.

"Delta is the most transmissible of the

variants identified so far, has been

identified in at least 85 countries and is

spreading rapidly among unvaccinated

populations," he added.

Spain nonetheless brought an end to

mandatory outdoor mask wearing on

debris raining down, but not

specifically sounds of

tapping or sounds of a

human voice."

Buffeted by gusty winds

and pelted by intermittent

rain showers, two heavy

cranes began removing

debris from the pile using

large claws in the morning,

creating a din of crashing

glass and metal as they

picked up material and

dumped it to the side. A

smoky haze rose from the

site.

Once the machines

paused, firefighters wearing

protective masks and

carrying red buckets

climbed atop the pile to

remove smaller pieces by

hand in hope of finding

spots where people might be

trapped. In a parking garage,

rescuers in knee-deep water

used power tools to cut into

the building from below.

Surfside Mayor Charles

Burkett said crews were

doing everything possible to

save as many people as they

could.

"We do not have a

resource problem, we have a

luck problem," he said.

The White House said

President Joe Biden, who

spoke with Florida Gov. Ron

DeSantis after the collapse,

was receiving updates from

Homeland Security.

Officials said they still

don't know exactly how

many residents or visitors

were in the building when it

fell, but they were trying to

locate 159 people who were

considered unaccounted for

and may or may not have

been there.

Flowers left in tribute

decorated a fence near the

tower, and people awaiting

news about the search

watched from a distance,

hands clasped and hugging.

Congregants prayed at a

nearbysynagoguewhere

some members were among

Saturday, a year after the rule was first

introduced in the wake of the devastating

first wave of the virus through Europe.

The decision came despite the

announcement of a major coronavirus

cluster in the capital Madrid, traced to an

end-of-school-year student trip to the

holiday island Mallorca, with more than

2,000 people ordered to self-isolate.

The Netherlands ended its rules on

outdoor mask wearing, also easing some

restrictions on indoor dining and

reopening discotheques to patrons who

tested negative for Covid.

Businesses were also allowed from

Friday to broadcast the Euro 2020

football tournament, provided customers

kept socially distanced.

And Switzerland scrapped most of its

remaining coronavirus restrictions on

Saturday, after health minister Alain

Berset said this week that the country's

use of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna

vaccines gave adequate protection

against the Delta variant.

the missing.

On the beach near the

collapsed structure, visitor

Faydah Bushnaq of Sterling,

Virginia, knelt and scratched

"Pray for their souls" in the

sand.

"We were supposed to be

on vacation, but I have no

motivation to have fun,"

Bushnaq said. "It is the

perfect time to say a prayer

for them."

Three more bodies were

removed overnight, and

Miami-Dade Police Director

Freddy Ramirez said

authorities were working

with the medical examiner's

office to identify the victims.

Eleven injuries were

reported, with four people

treated at hospitals.

Miami-Dade Mayor

Daniella Levine Cava said

rescuers were at "extreme

risk" going through the

rubble.

"Debris is falling on them

as they do their work.

With nearly 160 people unaccounted for and at least four dead after a seaside condominium

tower collapsed into a smoldering heap of twisted metal and concrete, rescuers used both heavy

equipment and their own hands to comb through the wreckage on Friday in an increasingly desperate

search for survivors.

Photo : AP

Evidence on UFOs

'largely inconclusive':

US intelligence report

WASHINGTON : A highly

awaited US intelligence

report on dozens of

mysterious unidentified

flying object sightings said

most could not be explained,

but did not rule out that

some could be alien

spacecraft.

The unclassified report

said researchers could

explain only one of 144 UFO

sightings by US government

personnel and sources

between 2004 and 2021,

sightings that often were

made during military

training activities.

Eighteen of those, some

observed from multiple

angles, appeared to display

unusual movements or flight

characteristics that

surprised those who saw

them, like holding stationary

in high winds at high

altitude, and moving with

extreme speed with no

discernable means of

propulsion, the report said.

Some of the 144 might be

explained by natural or

human made objects like

birds or drones cluttering a

pilot's radar, or natural

atmospheric phenomena,

the report said.

Others could be secret US

defense tests, or unknown

advanced technologies

created by Russia or China,

it said.

Yet others appeared to

require more advanced

technologies to determine

what they are, it said.

The sightings of what the

report calls unidentified

aerial phenomena (UAP)

"probably lack a single

explanation," said the report

from the Office of the

Director of National

Intelligence.

"We currently lack

sufficient information in our

dataset to attribute incidents

to specific explanations."

The report made no

mention of the possibility ofor

rule out-that some of the

objects sighted could

represent extra-terrestrial

life. The military and

intelligence community

have conducted research on

them as a potential threat.

Sydney flags broader

lockdown as Delta

variant cases swell

SYDNEY : Central Sydney's

streets were deserted on

Saturday as Australia's

largest city began a weeklong

lockdown to contain the

highly contagious Delta

coronavirus variant, with

authorities warning broader

restrictions could follow.

More than 80 Covid-19

cases have been reported so

far in an infection surge

linked to an international

flight crew transported to a

quarantine hotel from the

airport.

The flare-up was a shock

for a city that had returned

to relative normality after

months with very few local

cases.

The sudden curbs took

effect at midnight, affecting

an estimated one million

people across Sydney's

business district and affluent

eastern suburbs.

But the spread of the

outbreak beyond the four

neighbourhoods already

under lockdown was

spurring "growing and more

intense concern", New

South Wales state health

minister Brad Hazzard said.

"The Delta variant is

proving to be a very

formidable foe," he told

reporters.

"No matter what

defensive steps were taking

at the moment, the virus

seems to understand how to

counter-attack."

Health officials have been

alarmed by the rapid spread

of the Delta variant first seen

in India, noting instances of

people passing on the virus

during fleeting encounters

in shops and then quickly

infecting close family

contacts.

WASHINGTON : Former President Donald

Trump will return to the rally stage this weekend,

holding his first campaign-style event since

leaving the White House as he makes good on his

pledge to exact revenge on those who voted for

his historic second impeachment, reports UNB.

Trump's event at Ohio's Lorain County

Fairgrounds, not far from Cleveland, will be held

Saturday to support Max Miller, a former White

House aide who is challenging Republican Rep.

Anthony Gonzalez for his congressional seat.

Gonzalez was one of 10 GOP House members

who voted to impeach Trump for his role in

inciting the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the

Capitol building.

Trump wants them to pay.

The rally, held five months after Trump left

office under a cloud of violence, marks the

beginning of a new, more public phase of his

post-presidency. After spending much of his time

behind closed doors building a political operation

and fuming about the last election, Trump is

planning a flurry of public appearances in the

coming weeks. He'll hold another rally in Florida

over the July Fourth weekend unattached to a

midterm candidate and will travel to the

southern border next week to protest President

SunDAY, JunE 27, 2021

7

Trump targeting GOP

impeachment voter

at Ohio revenge rally

Joe Biden's immigration policies.

The rally also comes as Trump is facing

immediate legal jeopardy. Manhattan

prosecutors informed his company Thursday

that it could soon face criminal charges

stemming from a wide-ranging investigation into

the former president's business dealings. The

New York Times, citing sources familiar with the

matter, reported that charges could be filed

against the Trump Organization as early as next

week. Trump has denounced the investigations

as nothing more than a "witch hunt" aimed as

damaging him politically. Although Trump

remains a deeply polarizing figure, he is

extremely popular with the Republican base, and

candidates have flocked to his homes in Florida

and New Jersey seeking his endorsement as he

has tried to positioned himself as his party's

kingmaker. Trump has said he is committed to

helping Republicans regain control of Congress in next

year's midterm elections. But his efforts to support -

and recruit - candidates to challenge incumbent

Republicans who have crossed him put him at odds

with other Republican leaders who have been trying to

unify the party after a brutal year in which they lost

control of the White House and failed to gain control

of either chamber of Congress.

Former President Donald Trump will return to the rally stage this weekend,

holding his first campaign-style event since leaving the White House

as he makes good on his pledge to exact revenge on those who voted for his

historic second impeachment.

Photo : AP

Bill to renew key Missouri Medicaid

funding tax advances

JEFFERSON CITY : Missouri senators

advanced a bill to renew a key tax for

Medicaid funding late Friday after hours of

debate over coverage of family planning

services. The GOP-led Senate in a voice vote

gave the tax bill initial approval. The bill

needs another Senate vote to move to the

House, reports UNB.

Senators were able to advance the bill after

some Republicans joined with Democrats to

vote down a proposal by GOP Sen. Bob

Onder that sought to cut off any government

money for Planned Parenthood.

Missouri already bans any Medicaid

funding from being used to pay for

abortions. But the Missouri Supreme Court

last year overturned another provision in a

state budget law forbidding Medicaid

reimbursements to any Planned Parenthood

clinic, even those that don't provide

abortions. "No taxpayer should be forced to

participate in the evil of abortion," Onder

told colleagues during debate on the Senate

floor Friday. Onder framed his proposal as a

test of fellow Republicans' beliefs on

abortion, which GOP Sen. Mike Cierpiot

called "outrageous." Cierpiot was among

several Republicans who raised concerns

that blocking all Medicaid funding for

Planned Parenthood, without first getting a

waiver from the federal Centers for Medicare

and Medicaid Services, could violate federal

rules and put billions of dollars in federal

Medicaid funding at risk.

"It is the opposite of a pro-life move,"

Cierpiot said. "It is going to threaten funds

for the most vulnerable people in this state."

The latest version of the bill also includes a

ban on Medicaid spending on any

medications or devices "used for the purpose

of inducing an abortion."

Lawmakers for months have been trying to

extend the tax on hospitals, pharmacies,

nursing homes and ambulances, which

expires Sept. 30.

Afghan leader meets Biden

as US exit looms

WASHINGTON : US

President Joe Biden

promised Afghan leader

Ashraf Ghani strong support

during a White House

meeting Friday but made

clear he was not planning to

slow the US withdrawal after

nearly two decades of

fighting. Less than three

months before his deadline

for the removal of all troops,

Biden told Ghani that

Afghans had to determine

their own fate even as they

face a mounting offensive by

Taliban insurgents.

"The partnership between

the United States and

Afghanistan is not ending,"

Biden said in the Oval Office.

"Our troops may be

leaving, but support for

Afghanistan is not ending."

Even so, Biden told the

Afghan president, "Afghans

are going to have to decide

their future, what they

want." "The senseless

violence, it has to stop. It's

going to be very difficult."

Ghani was in Washington

along with Abdullah

Abdullah, who oversees

Kabul's peace negotiations

with the Taliban, amid rising

uncertainty over the group's

recent gains and the

possibility of their return to

power.

The extremists subjected

the population to a brutal

version of Islam when they

ruled from 1996-2001.

Sitting next to Biden,

Ghani acknowledged that

Biden was not going to

change course from his April

announcement ordering the

end to America's longest

war. "President Biden's

decision has been historic, it

has made everybody

recalculate and reconsider,"

Ghani said.

"We are here to respect it

and support it."

But he also said not to

count his government out,

amid reports that an internal

US intelligence assessment

says the Taliban could

possibly take over Kabul

within six months of the US

departure.

Ghani said Afghan

government forces retook

six districts, in the north and

south, on Friday.


SunDAY, JunE 27, 2021

8

Growing together with Daraz

Seller Referral Program

Innovation and integration of

buyer/seller goodwill have been Daraz

Bangladesh's forte since day 1, and

now the leading online marketplace

has introduced a unique 'Seller

Referral Program' to boost their peer

engagements even more. The latest

seller referral program enables both

Bank of England torn between inflation

fears and Covid recovery

LONDON: The Bank of

England is forecast to keep

record low interest rates on

Thursday-the latest major

central bank to weigh fears of

spiking inflation against the

need to nurture economic

recovery from Covid, reports

BSS.

The British central bank will

announce the outcome of its

meeting at 1100 GMT, when it

is predicted to keep rates at 0.1

percent and maintain bondbuying

stimulus.

The US Federal Reserve and

European Central Bank kept

their own ultra-low rates and

economic support measures

intact in recent weeks,

insisting that high inflation is a

temporary side-effect from the

global rebound.

The Bank of England's ratesetting

monetary policy

Walton moves to expand TV export

to 20 European countries by 2021

Bangladesh's electronics giant

Walton has set a target of

widening its TV export

business to total of 20

European countries by the

year 2021 as the local brand's

manufactured and exported

'Made in Bangladesh' tagged

television in Europe has been

well accepted for its high

quality as well as reliability,

says a press release.

Despite the global trade and

economic slowdown following

the coronavirus pandemic

situation, Walton made a great

success in expanding its LED

TV exports to 10 European

countries, including Germany,

Greece, Ireland, Croatia,

Spain, Poland, Italy and

Romania. Walton's successful

market expansion in Europe

was resulted in increasing its

TV export 10 times more than

the previous year.

In addition, Walton's TV

exports to Europe in the year

2020 was exceeded in the first

five months of this year

Daraz customers and sellers to refer

new sellers to the Daraz platform and

enhance the overall business

modalities for both the platform and

the vendors, a press release said.

New sellers would have to use

certain referral codes while signing up

on Daraz, so the referees' primary

committee (MPC), chaired by

Governor Andrew Bailey, will

be eager not to snub out any

nascent economic recovery in

the second quarter by raising

rates too soon.

The BoE's chief task is to use

monetary policy as a tool to

keep the inflation rate close to

a 2.0-percent target, in order

to preserve the value of money.

Inflation last month hit 2.1

percent-the highest level since

before the pandemic-with

clothing, fuel and oil prices

rebounding as the economy

reopens. Policymakers will

also be mindful of retreating

unemployment, as the

economy gradually emerges

from lockdown.

"Inflation is rising and

unemployment is falling, but

the Bank of England isn't going

to do anything about raising

(January to May).

German Ambassador to

Bangladesh Peter Fahrenholtz

praised Walton's remarkable

achievements in expanding

TV export to Europe.

During a recent visit to

Walton Hi-Tech Park at

Chandra in Gazipur, the

German envoy was briefed on

the successful market

expansion of Walton products

in Europe.

Witnessing the use of

European technologies'

advanced machineries, the

ambassador also lauded

Walton's state-of-the-art TV

manufacturing factory.

On his reaction on the visit,

Peter Fahrenholtz said,

"Walton has developed so

well. I am very much

impressed. Walton has a

vision to be a global player

through producing quality

products. Today, I witnessed

that Walton invested good

enough on advanced

technologies' machineries

interest rates until it's sure

these aren't just transitory

factors emanating from an

economy that's gone from red

to green," said analyst Laith

Khalaf at stockbroker AJ Bell.

The labour market is being

helped also by the

government's temporary

furlough scheme, which pays

the bulk of wages for millions

of private-sector workers but

will be phased out by

September. The Covidravaged

economy grew by an

encouraging 2.3 percent in

April as the government began

to ease lockdown.

Bright survey data has

sparked hope of a rebound in

the second quarter or three

months to June, after

shrinking 1.5 percent in the

first quarter.

Private sector business

mostly from Germany to

produce quality products. I

hope that Walton would be a

global market player.'

The German envoy also

termed Walton as a showcase

of the the Bangladesh

tremendous progress in the

recent years.

Walton Hi-Tech Managing

Director Engineer Golam

Walton's higher officials is briefing German Ambassador to Bangladesh

Peter Fahrenholtz about the successful market expansion of Walton products

in Europe during his recent visit to the TV Manufacturing Factory at

Walton Hi-Tech Park in Chandra, Gazipur.

Photo: Courtesy

Murshed said, Walton wants

to bring the Bangladesh's flag

of Bangladesh to a unique

height in the world by securing

a strong brand position in the

world's consumer electronics

markets. That's why, Walton

has been moving forward with

the "Vision- Go Global 2030".

The vision implies Walton will

be emerged as the best and

leading global electronics

brand in the world by 2030.

Walton TV Chief Executive

Officer Mostafa Nahid

Hossain said, "We set a goal of

becoming one of the top five

global television brands in the

world. As a part of this goal, we

objective is completed. After a new

seller attaining a certain benchmark,

the referee shall receive a Daraz

voucher worth BDT 300 per refer as a

reward. A person can refer unlimited

sellers and will enjoy rewards for 5

new sellers and up to BDT 1500 per

month.

activity expanded at a nearrecord

pace in June, with

businesses taking on staff at a

record rate, data firm IHS

Markit said. The BoE expects

the economy to grow 7.25

percent this year. But markets

are increasingly anxious over a

global inflationary surge,

fuelled by consumers' pent-up

demand.

BoE chief economist Andy

Haldane, who will attend his

swansong MPC on Thursday,

has warned of a "dangerous

moment" for central bankers

and the broader economy.

"The inflation tiger is never

dead. While nothing is

assured, acting early as

inflation risks grow is the best

way of heading off future

threat. This is monetary policy

101," Haldane wrote in New

Statesman magazine.

target to widen Walton TV

export markets to all the

countries of the 5 continents

by 2023. In this case, the rapid

expansion of Walton TV's

export market in Europe will

play an important role.

He said Walton exported 10

times more TVs to Europe in

2020 than the previous year.

In the first five month of this

year (January to May), Walton

surpassed the export of 2020.

Walton TV's Head of

Business in Germany Tawseef

Al Mahmood said, they set a

plan to expand its TV export

markets to 20 European

countries by the end of 2021.

The 'Made in Bangladesh' TV

has be well accepted for ins

reliability and quality in

Europe and Walton want to

up hold this standard going

forward. This year, Walton are

going to launch 3 new models

with new Smart features with

regional software suitable for

Europe markets.

According to sources,

Walton is making TVs of

European standard at its own

factory at Chandra in Gazipur.

Walton has already been

recognized as a state-of-theart

Dolby and Google-listed

'licensed TV manufacturer'.

Walton is the only company in

Bangladesh to produce

Dolby's official sound quality

TV. The price of these TVs is as

affordable as it is the best. And

so Walton TV is now at the top

considering the market share

in the local market.

It is learned that besides

meeting the local demand,

Walton TV has been exported

to different countries of the

world since 2010. Walton is

currently exporting TVs

labeled 'Made in Bangladesh'

through more than 100

business partners in more

than 35 countries.

8th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of NRBC

Bank Limited held Through Digital Platform

The 8th Annual General

Meeting (AGM) of NRBC

Bank Ltdwas held on

through digital platform

'Zoom' recently. The AGM

was conducted through

virtual medium as per the

directive of the regulatory

body BSEC due to the ongoing

nationwide Corona

virus pandemic, a press

release said.

S. M. Parvez Tamal, the

Honorable Chairman of the

Board of Directors presided

over the meeting. All

Directors, Sponsors, a large

number of Shareholders,

Managing Director & CEO

Golam Awlia and External

Auditor of the Bank

attended the meeting on

virtual platform. Company

Secretary Md. Mozammel

Hossain conducted the

meeting. Chairman S M

Parvez Tamal presented the

Annual Report 2020 of the

Bank and Directors Report

before the Honorable

Shareholders. Shakib Al

Hasan, number one allrounder

of the world also

attended the meeting as a

distinguished share holder

of this bank.

The Shareholders present

in the AGM approved 12.5%

International Business

Forum of Bangladesh (IBFB)

and Bangladesh Enterprise

Institute (BEI) jointly

organized a webinar titled on

"The National Budget for

2021-22: Private Sector

Perspective" via ZOOM

video conference recently, a

press release said.

M. A. Mannan, MP,

Minister, Ministry of

Planning, Government of the

People's Republic of

Bangladesh graced the

webinar as Chief Guest.

Towfiqul Islam Khan,

Senior Research Fellow,

Centre for Policy Dialogue

(CPD) was the Key Note

Speaker at the webinar.

M.S. Siddiqui, Legal

Economist & Vice President,

International Business

Forum of Bangladesh

(IBFB), Dr. M. Masrur Reaz,

Chairman, Policy Exchange

of Bangladesh, Dr.

Muhammad Abdul Mazid,

Former Secretary and Ex-

Chairman, NBR &

Chairman, Finance

Committee, IBFB and Dr.

consisting of 5% stock and

7.5% cash dividend for the

year ended 2020. Apart

from that, adoption and

approval of last year's

Financial Statements,

retirement and reelection of

04 Directors and other

agenda were also approved

in the AGM by the votes of

the shareholders. NRBC

Bank experienced

Mohammad Mahfuz Kabir,

Research Director,

Bangladesh Institute of

International and Strategic

Studies (BIISS) spoke as

Designated Discussants.

Ambassador M Humayun

Kabir, President, BEI

delivered the welcome

remarks at the webinar and

Lutfunnisa Saudia Khan,

Vice President Finance,

IBFB delivered the vote of

tremendous growth in all

financial parameters in

2020 amid Corona Virus

pandemic situation. Bank's

deposit increased by 25 per

cent from Tk 7,185 crore to

Tk 9,017 crore in December

2020. Loans increased by

20.67 percent. At the end of

last year, the amount of debt

stood at Tk.7,483 crore; last

year it was 6,201 crore. Net

thanks at the webinar.

Humayun Rashid,

President, IBFB & Managing

Director & CEO, Energypac

Power Generation Ltd. was

the Chairperson of the

webinar.

Among others Hafizur

Rahman Khan, Immediate

Past President, IBFB and

Chairman, Runner Group of

Companies, Dr. Md. Ali

Afzal, Director, IBFB and

profit has increased from Tk

114 crore to Tk. 134 crore.

Earnings per share stood at

Tk 2.31. The bank's NPL rate

is only 2.93 percent. The

bank has shown financial

strength by saving 12.52

percent of its capital

adequacy Ratio (CAR) . It

was informed in the

discussion of the AGM that

NRBC Bank is a strong

partner of the government

for revenue collection.

NRBC Bank is lending

money to the people in an

easy process. Microcredit

schemes have been

introduced for this purpose.

Under this scheme in

partnership banking, loans

will be given to 1 lakh

marginalized people in the

next one year by they will be

able to become self-reliant

by arranging their own

work. In addition to the

banking activities, the bank

has stood beside Corona

affected people. NRBC Bank

has been termed as

'Humanitarian Bank' for its

various activities including

distribution of medicines,

PPE, masks, hand sanitizers,

hand gloves and distribution

of cash among the destitute

people.

Webinar on 'The national budget for

2021-22: private sector perspective'

IMF board approves

final Egypt loan

disbursal

WASHINGTON : The IMF

executive board on

Wednesday said it had

approved Egypt's request for a

$1.7 billion loan, its final

disbursement under a plan

aiding its recovery from the

Covid-19 crisis, reports BSS.

"The Egyptian authorities

have managed well the

economic and social impact of

the COVID-19 pandemic,"

IMF Deputy Managing

Director and Acting Chair

Antoinette Sayeh said in a

statement.

"Proactive economic

policies shielded the economy

from the full brunt of the

crisis, alleviating the health

and social impact of the shock

while maintaining

macroeconomic stability and

investor confidence."

IMF staff approved the

release of the funds last

month as part of a program

now valued at $5.4 billion and

set up in June 2020 to help

the country during the

pandemic, $2 billion of which

was disbursed immediately.

The Washington-based

crisis lender greenlit the

release of $1.6 billion in

December after concluding

Egypt's government was

managing the downturn well.

Managing Director,

Krishibid Group, Lt. Gen M.

Harun-Ar-Rashid, Bir Protik

(Retd.), Chairman,

Governmental Relation and

Advocacy Committee, IBFB,

Managing Director, Rashid

Krishi Khamar Limited and

Prof. Dr. Hosne Ara Begum

(Ashoka Fellow & PHF),

Founder Executive Director,

TMSS, Bangladesh spoke at

the webinar.

Standard Bank Organizes

BAMLCO Conference-2021

Standard Bank Limited (SBL) has organized

the BAMLCO Conference 2021 a day-long

forum of the Branch Anti Money Laundering

Compliance Officers (BAMLCOs) of the bank

at a virtual event recently. Senior

executives/head of divisions and officials of

concerned divisions of the bank participated

in the conference along with 138 BAMLCOs of

the bank, a press release said

Head of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence

Unit (BFIU), Abu Hena Mohd. Razee Hassan

graced the conference as the Chief Guest.

Highlighting the AML & CFT initiatives of the

government, BFIU and international

organizations, the Chief Guest spoke about the

responsibilities of the bank as a reporting

organization during his speech. He welcomed

the initiative of the bank for holding the

conference and urged everyone present to

remain aware and endeavor to contribute to

the fight against money laundering and

terrorist financing. General Managers of

BFIU, A.B.M Zahurul Huda and Md.

Shawkatul Alam attended the event as the

Special Guests.

Managing Director & CEO of Standard Bank

Ltd., Khondoker Rashed Maqsood advised the

BAMLCOs to strive further to mitigate the risk

of ML & TF by complying with the regulatory

instructions on AML & CFT.

Deputy General Manager, Muhammad

Mohsin Hossaini, Joint Director, Md. Rokon-

Uz-Zaman and Md. Jaynul Abedeen, Deputy

Director of BFIU were the resource persons of

the day-long conference. Additional

Managing Director & CAMLCO of SBL, Md.

Touhidul Alam Khan has moderated the

whole conference.


SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 2021

9

Patrik Schick unleashes his long-ranger for Czech Republic vs Scotland (UEFA).

Photo: AP

Long-range goals in European Championships

shoot into footballing folklore

SPORTS DESK

It took exactly 4.6 seconds for

Czech Republic striker Patrik

Schick to achieve cult status

in European Championship

folklore. The time between

him receiving the ball inside

his own half, rushing towards

the half-line and hoofing the

ball across 49.7 yards over a

frantically back-pedalling

Scotland goalkeeper David

Marshall, who ended up

comically tangled in the

mesh, like a captured tiger. It

was in a metaphorical sense,

his shot to glory, reports

UNB.

From an anonymous striker

in the Bundesliga, rejected

numerous times by the

heavyweights, the goal

instantly made Schick the

rising star of Europe,

inundated with suitors

queuing up and willing to

expend any incredulous sum

Tim Paine apologises

to New Zealand

for picking India

to win WTC final

SPORTS DESK

Australia test captain Tim

Paine has apologised to New

Zealand for writing the

Black Caps off before their

World Test Championship

(WTC) triumph against

India, reports UNB.

Paine had predicted India

would "comfortably" beat

Kane Williamson's side in

the WTC final, only to be

ridiculed on social media

after New Zealand

completed an eight-wicket

win in Southampton this

week. "We all get some

wrong. I copped a bit from

the Kiwi fans, so I thought

I'd come on air and eat some

humble pie," Paine told New

Zealand radio station

Newstalk ZB."I thought the

New Zealanders played

outstandingly.

It's always a pleasure to

watch the way they go about

it."For such a small nation -

I'm from Tasmania.

his current employers, Bayer

Leverkusen, demand in

exchange for his signature.

Even before the Euros has

rolled into the knockout

stage, Schick strike, the

longest-ranger in the history

of the continental

championships, is being

hailed as the goal of the

tournament. It's unlikely that

the distance he covered

would be replicated in this

tournament, by even Schick

himself. It is hard to attain

perfection once, let alone

twice. The technical demands

involved in such goals are

stratospheric. For this precise

reason, it's improbable that

such long-rangers would turn

out to be fashionable in the

tournament, even if there is a

sudden surge in shies and

goals from outside the box, as

a shock weapon to catch

defending teams off guard.

Since that game, there have

been 41 efforts from outside

the box in 29 games, of which

12 pierced the nets. The low

hitting and conversion rates

probably explain why there

are fewer shots on goals from

outside the box as well as why

a minority of the attempts

indeed result in a goal. Outof-the-box

hits are rare, outof-the-box

hits that result in

goals are rarer. Apart from

supreme technique, power,

accuracy and split-second

decision-making, one needs

confidence and ambition too.

Fewer goals though provide

as much spontaneous thrill as

those from the distance. A

dribbler winkling past a maze

of legs could bewitch you; a

winger's welting run from the

half-line to the six-yard box

could confiscate your breath

and give lung spasms; a

poacher's strike has a

calculated inevitability about

it, but long-rangers could

make your spine shiver and

the hair on the back of the

neck do a little dance even

when watching it on a loop. A

double surge of adrenalin.

The best from downtown

Not just the Schick goal, but

those from Luka Modric, the

high priest of long-rangers,

Ukraine's AndriyYarmolenko

against the Dutch, or

Denmark's

MikkelDamsgaard against

the Russians - to name but a

few of the pearlers. They go

by different names, but

adhering to strict rhyme

patterns -pearlers (usually

volleys and involving

acrobatics), screamers

(powerful and slamming into

the top corner), pile-drivers

(flat and straight), daisycutters

(all along the ground),

curlers (those with wicked

swerve) or hoofers (ultralong-range

ones that are hit

high).

Relentless Ronaldo makes Portugal

believe again before Belgium

SPORTS DESK

Portugal felt the full range of emotions

during the Euro 2020 group stage and with

Cristiano Ronaldo in the groove again, they

can really begin to believe, reports BSS.

After scoring three late goals to beat

Hungary, Portugal were shaken by a 4-2 loss

to Germany, only for a 2-2 draw against

France to restore morale and ensure they

snuck out of Group F in third place.

The result is a last-16 clash with Belgium in

Seville on Sunday, when one of the

tournament favourites will bow out in what

is surely the blockbuster tie of the round.

One of the frontrunners for the Golden

Boot will fall too, with Ronaldo and

Belgium's RomeluLukaku both in

contention. Ronaldo leads the scoring charts

on five goals with Lukaku not far behind on

three.

Portugal may have taken only a point from

a sweaty contest with France at the Puskas

Arena in Budapest but the belief and

confidence gained from going toe-to-toe with

the world champions could be pivotal for the

rest of their tournament.

After chaos against Germany came

concentration against the French, a

committed, organised and aggressive

performance which was a reminder of what

carried Portugal to success at Euro 2016 and

in the Nations League three years later.

"We were strong and consistent. The

players helped each other, we had

possession, we attacked well. We improved a

lot from the game against Germany," said

Portugal's coach Fernando Santos

afterwards.

Santos had responded too, reacting to

criticism by reverting to his traditional 4-3-3

system of the past two years and making

some bold changes to his starting line-up.

'We can beat anyone' -

William Carvalho and Bruno Fernandes,

who both struggled in the first two games,

made way for the young Renato Sanches and

the veteran Joao Moutinho, who both rose to

the challenge against Paul Pogba and

N'GoloKante.

Sanches brought some much-needed

dynamism to the team while the 34-year-old

Moutinho's surgical passing gave Portugal

the guile and direction they had lacked

against Germany.

"We can fight against the best teams," said

Santos. "Either we believe or we don't

because we can beat anyone and I'll keep

saying it-no team thinks they will have an

easy time against Portugal."

New Zealand's captain Kane Williamson holds the winner's trophy as he celebrates with his

teammates after their win in the World Test Championship final cricket match against India, at

the Rose Bowl in Southampton, England, Wednesday, June 23, 2021. New Zealand won the

match by eight wickets.

Photo: AP

Mo Farah missing

Olympics after failing

to qualify in 10K

SPORTS DESK

Mo Farah failed to qualify

for the Tokyo Olympics and

will not defend his 10,000-

meter title, reports UNB.

The four-time Olympic

champion missed the

qualifying time in an

invitational 10,000 at the

British

athletics

championships in

Manchester.

Farah needed to go under

27 minutes, 28 seconds to

earn his place on the plane to

Tokyo ahead of Sunday's

deadline but he clocked 27

minutes, 47.04 seconds, and

will not defend the 10,000

title he won in 2012 and

2016.

"You go out there and give

it all and that's all you have,"

he said. "It's quite windy. I

tried to push and push and I

ran my lungs out.

"I've had a wonderful

career. I'm very grateful.

That's all I had today. It's a

tough one. I've always said if

I can't compete with the

best, I'm not going to be in a

final. Tonight wasn't good

enough."

The invitational race was

hastily arranged after Farah

failed to qualify during the

10,000 trials in Birmingham

this month.

He was the second Brit

home in eighth on that

occasion, taking 27 minutes,

50.54 seconds, and blamed

an ankle problem for

hampering his attempt.

It was the first time he had

lost a 10,000 race in a

decade having decided to

return to the track after

focusing on the marathon

since 2017.

Farah was also a double

Olympic champion in the

5,000.

Maradona

psychiatrist

denies blame

in star's death

SPORTS DESK

The psychiatrist who was

treating Diego Maradona

when he died last November

denies any responsibility for

his demise, which an expert

panel has blamed on neglect,

her lawyer said Friday,

reports BSS.

Agustina Cosachov, 36,

will tell investigators the

footballer "died of a

coronary issue that in no

way related to the

psychiatric issues she was

attending to," her lawyer

Vadim Mischanchuk said as

his client arrived to be

questioned by prosecutors.

"She was a psychiatric

doctor, she had nothing to

do with the clinical

management of the patient,"

the lawyer said.

Cosachov, an addiction

specialist, is one of seven

medical professionals under

investigation

for

manslaughter over

Maradona's death in a case

that has gripped Argentina.

According to the

investigation record,

Cosachov and neurosurgeon

Leopoldo Luque, 39, were

the key personnel in charge

of Maradona's care.

The 1986 World Cupwinning

captain died of a

heart attack at the age of 60,

weeks after undergoing

brain surgery for a blood

clot.

Cosachov

and

psychologist Carlos Diaz, 29,

found Maradona dead in

bed in a rented house in an

exclusive Buenos Aires

neighborhood where he was

receiving home care.

'They killed Diego' -

Prosecutors opened an

investigation after a board of

experts looking into the

footballer's death found he

had received inadequate

care and was abandoned to

his fate.

Last week, a lawyer for coaccused

nurse Dahiana

Madrid, 36, told prosecutors

the doctors in charge had

"killed Diego."

Italy ready for last 16 as Wales

face Denmark at Euro 2020

SPORTS DESK

Italy could break an 82-year

national record when they

take on Austria in the last 16

at Euro 2020 on Saturday,

while Wales must find a way

to stop neutrals'favourites

Denmark, reports BSS.

Roberto Mancini, who

took over after Italy's failure

to qualify for the 2018 World

Cup, has rebuilt the Azzurri

into contenders, overseeing

a 30-match unbeaten run to

equal the mark set under

two-time World Cupwinning

coach Vittorio

Pozzo in the 1930s.

Italy breezed through the

group stage and have won

their last 11 matches without

conceding a goal. They will

be heavy favourites against

an Austria side through to

the knockout stages of the

tournament for the first

time.

"Playing at Wembley

really should be a pleasure

because... well, sometimes

players never get a chance to

play there in their lives," said

former Manchester City

boss Mancini.

"It's such a spectacular

stadium and I want us to go

out there and play well

because, well the stadium

kind of deserves that."

Austria advanced as

runners-up from Group C,

recovering from a 2-0 loss to

Netherlands by beating

Ukraine 1-0 in their final

game.

"We know we're the

underdogs and it's difficult

to judge our realistic chances

but even with 10 percent you

can achieve a lot," said

Austria coach Franco Foda.

"This team has already

achieved something

spectacular but now we're

focused on taking the next

step to make it to Munich."

Momentum with

Denmark -Gareth Bale and

Wales play Denmark in

Amsterdam, dreaming of a

repeat of their run to the

Euro 2016 semi-finals after

advancing as runners-up of

Group A behind Italy.

Denmark overcame the

shock and trauma of

Christian Eriksen's cardiac

arrest during their opening

game against Finland to

qualify for the knockout

phase as the second-placed

team in Group B despite

losing their first two

matches.

After being revived on the

pitch in Copenhagen,

Eriksen spent six days in

hospital after his collapse,

undergoing surgery to have

a defibrillator implanted.

"We dealt with a very

traumatic experience and

the same night we kept

playing. We played one of

the best teams in the world

(Belgium) a couple of days

later and we beat Russia

playing very intensely," said

coach Kasper Hjulmand.

"It shows the power we

possess, both physical and

mental."

The Danes are aiming to

win a knockout tie at the

European Championship for

the first time since they

stunned the continent to win

the trophy itself in 1992.

It is exactly 29 years since

Denmark defeated Germany

in the final in Gothenburg

having famously only

qualified because war-torn

Yugoslavia disintegrated.

Wales will be denied a

proper travelling support in

Amsterdam with fans barred

from entering the

Netherlands from the

United Kingdom.

Italy made an impressive start to Euro 2020 and won all three of their

games in Group A.

Photo: AP

All smiles for Simone

Biles, as Tokyo comes

into focus at US trials

SPORTS DESK

Four-time Olympic gold

medallist Simone Biles

backed up her reputation as

the world's greatest gymnast

on Friday, dominating the

first day of the women's

competition at the U.S.

Olympic gymnastics trials,

less than a month before the

Tokyo Games, reports UNB.

While Biles can boast one

of the most decorated

careers in the history of the

sport, the 25-time world

medallist must earn her

ticket to Tokyo this weekend

in St. Louis, as Olympic

hopefuls vie for a spot on

Team USA.

She made clear that would

be no problem. Competing

in front of a packed crowd at

the Dome at America's

Center, the 24-year-old put

on a show in her floor

routine, unleashing her

signature triple-twisting

double back maneuver to

pick up a top score of 15.366

- an improvement over her

best of 14.95 at nationals -

with a 6.800 difficulty.

"Going into this one, I

know exactly what to

expect," said Biles, a seventimes

all-around national

champion, reflecting on the

five years since her previous

trials. "I'm a lot more

emotional this time around

which is so crazy. Even

walking out I was tearing up

and crying."

By the end of the night she

had topped the field with a

total score of 60.565,

followed by Sunisa Lee and

Jordan Chiles, who finished

2.899 and 3.422 points off

the

lead,

respectively.MyKayla

Skinner (56.598), 24, an

alternate at the 2016

Olympics, finished the

evening fourth in the

standings, months after

recovering from pneumonia

and a COVID-19 diagnosis.

The top two finishers will

earn spots on the team,

while two members will be

determined by a selection

committee with one more

individual quota spot to be

filled.Lee, 18, widely

considered a frontrunner to

make the team after a strong

performance at the U.S.

national championships last

month, put up the top score

on the uneven bars (15.300),

after picking up bronze in

the event at the 2019 World

Championships.The women

will return to the dome

Sunday for the second and

final night of their

competition, as the men

wrap up their competition

on Saturday.

Swimming Australia says bad

treatment a decades-long issu

SPORTS DESK

Swimming Australia says unacceptable

treatment of some swimmers is a decades-long

problem amid media reports that six former

elite athletes will soon make public their

experiences of abuse in the sport, reports

UNB.Swimming Australia said in a statement

Saturday that it is "deeply concerned and

understands the gravity" of fresh claims of abuse

within the sport after meeting with former

Olympic swimmer Maddie Groves.

"We acknowledge some members of the

swimming community have experienced

unacceptable behavior, some of this dates back

decades," SA said.

The swimming association said it was

unaware of the nature of the claims from the six

swimmers. Local media said the swimmers will

come forward amid a controversy initiated by

two-time Olympic silver medalist Groves in a

series of social media posts.

Groves withdrew from Australia's Olympic

swim trials which finished in Adelaide nine days

ago, claiming there were "misogynistic perverts

in sport." Groves on Friday met with Swimming

Australia president Kieren Perkins and chief

executive officer Alex Baumann to detail her

concerns. Perkins and Baumann are both

former Olympic gold medallists in swimming.


sunDAY, JunE 27, 2021

10

Apurba, Sabila's new drama

'Agdum Bagdum'

TBT REPORT

Popular actor Ziaul Faruq

Apurba has acted under

Rubel Hasan's direction once

again in a single-episode

drama titled 'Agdum

Bagdum'. In the drama,

Apurba will be seen opposite

actress Sabila Nur.

Based on the story of

Apurba, the play has been

scripted by Rajib Ahmed. The

drama also stars Shahidul

Alam Sachchu, Saberi Alam,

and others.In the drama,

Apurba is a middle-class

young man who lives with his

mother and younger brother.

He is unemployed and his

younger brother works in a

shop. Apurba also gets work in

the same shop where his

brother works. But on the first

day, Apurba bust-up with a

customer (played by Sabila).

She complains against

Apurba to the shop owner.

For that, Apurba and his

brother lose their job. Then

the story makes a dramatic

turn!

About the drama, Rubel

Hasan said, "The story of

'Agdum Bagdum' is written

by Apurba. We have recently

completed the project. I can

say, this will be one of my

best works. I hope, this

drama will also well accepted

by the audience."'Agdum

Bagdum' will be released on

the YouTube channel of CMV

on the occasion of the

upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.

Earlier, Apurba worked

under Rubel's direction in

'Mr. & Ms. Chapabaz' in last

year Eid-ul-Azha. The drama

got huge response and

crossed 10 million views on

YouTube within a very short

time after its release. The

actor-director duo has also

recently collaborated for the

drama's sequel 'Chapabaz

Unlimited', which also stars

Mehazabien Chowdhury.

Doly lends her voice in movie

'Bhul Manush'

TBT REPORT

Doly Shaontoni, one of the

popular singers of the 90s',

presented many hit numbers to

the audience. She has also

made her mark as a playback

singer. After a long time, the

singer has lent her voice

recently to two songs in a film

titled 'Bhul Maush'.

Among the songs, one is a

duet and another is single.

Popular singer Imran

Mahmudul sung with her in the

duet track titled 'Du Haat

Barao'. The song has been

written by Sudip Kumar Dip

and the music is composed by

Shamim Mahmud.

The music of the single track

'Nachuni Buri' has been

directed by S Pulok.

TBT REPORT

Noted film actor and lawmaker Akbar Hossain

Pathan Farooque's health condition has been

improved. He has been undergoing treatment

in Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital since

March.

Farooque's wife Farhana Pathan said to

media that the actor's health condition is

improving gradually. In the last week of

March, he lost his consciousness and has been

given treatment in ICU. He is out of risk now,

she informed.

In the first week of March, Farooque went to

Singapore for regular health check-up and was

diagnosed with posterior reversible

encephalopathy syndrome (PRES),

septicemia, and pseudomonas. He has been

receiving treatment in Singapore's Mount

Elizabeth Hospital since then.

Actor Farooque, who is also a freedom

fighter, film producer, and businessman, was

elected MP from Dhaka-17 constituency in

the last national election.Farooque appeared

in over 150 films in a career spanning more

than five decades. Most of his films were

commercially and critically successful. He is

one of the most recognisable stars of the

classical and golden era of Bangladeshi film

industry. He was the first artiste selected for

About the songs, Doly

Shaontoni said, "After a

long time I've lent my voice

to two songs in a movie.

The songs are very

beautiful. One of the songs

is melodic and another is

rhythmic. I hope, the music

lovers will like the songs."

Doly Shaontoni is a

popular singer of the

country. She released 15

solo albums, mixed albums

and also sings in over 700

films. Her notable songs

are 'Kalia', 'Hey Jubok',

'Nitaigonj', 'Amar

MatirGase Lao Dhoirase',

and others. Her first

playback song was for the

film 'Utthan Poton' in

1992.

Actor Farooque's health condition

improves

the Bangladesh National Film Award for Best

Supporting Actor for the film 'Lathial' in 1975

but he declined to receive the award.

Kiara to romance

Ranveer, Ram in

two different films!

Kiara Advani, who was praised for her performances in 'Lust Stories,' 'Kabir Singh'

and 'Good Newwz', is now receiving several offers from all quarters. Recently, it was

reported that the actress is the front runner for Shankar's upcoming 'Pan-India'

film with Ram Charan. Now the latest report has an update.

Earlier this week, Kiara took to social media to share an Instagram story

celebrating two year anniversary of her blockbuster film 'Kabir Singh'. She shared

a poster of the film and captioned, "June will always be the most special month for

me! To the film that changed our lives forever. Major Missing

#2YearsofKabirSingh."Now the latest report claims that Kiara Advani has signed

a multi-film deal with the director Shankar. A source close to the development

revealed, "Kiara will be a part of both, 'RC 15' and 'Aparichit' adaptation. While she

is romantically paired alongside Ram Charan in one, the other film will mark her

first-time collaboration with Ranveer Singh.

The character details and shoot schedules have been kept under wraps, however, the

Shankar film Ranveer Singh will go on floors sometime next year, only once the work

on 'RC 15' is concluded."The report further reveals that there is a possibility that Kiara

Advani will be doing another film with the filmmaker apart from 'RC 15' and 'Aparichit'

adaptation. However, no details have been revealed as to whether the film will be

helmed by the ace director of will he be just producing it. The report quoted the source

saying, "It's essentially a deal to collaborate on three films over the next few years.

Source: Times Of India

Britney's public support may

not mean much in court

Britney Spears' powerful plea to a

judge to end the conservatorship

that has controlled her life since

2008 brought sympathy and outrage

from fans, famous supporters and

even casual observers who say she

deserves independence.

Yet lawyers who deal in such

matters say the speech itself may not

have helped her in the legal process,

which will be long and arduous.

"When Britney spoke, I mean, the

world listened. This was amazing,"

family law attorney Peter Walzer

said. "Now, whether the judge will

buy it, whether the judge will let her

out of her conservatorship, my bet is

no."

Spears' passionate, at times

emotional address Wednesday to

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge

Brenda Penny was the first time in 13

years she has spoken in open court

on the conservatorship, which she

called "abusive" and "stupid."

The conservatorship was put in

place as Spears, hounded by

paparazzi and media scrutiny while a

new mother, underwent a very

public mental health crisis in 2008.

Spears revisited the speech in an

Instagram post Thursday,

apologizing "for pretending like I've

been ok the past two years.

"I did it because of my pride and I

was embarrassed to share what

happened to me," she said, later

adding, "Believe it or not pretending

that I'm ok has actually helped."

In court, Spears said she is forced to

keep using an intrauterine device for

birth control and take other

medications, is prevented her from

getting married or having another

child, and is not allowed let her have

her own money. She condemned her

father and the others who control it.

The speech was compelling for the

same reasons it may be problematic

to the court. She spoke very quickly,

often profanely, and could seem out

of control as she rattled off injustices

and the emotional turmoil they have

brought her."It just seems to me that

her presentation to her court didn't

do herself any favors," said David

Glass, a family law attorney with a

doctorate in psychology. "The words

came out like bullets.

Source: Indian Express

H O ROscOPE

Aries

Your flexible nature may get you

in trouble today, Aries.

Personalities may clash when no

one is willing to lead. Be aggressive

without being manipulative. Keep it light. Don't

try to pin anyone down. Your nature is open and

expansive. Give other people the freedom they

want. Unexpected events may dramatically

change the course of the day, so don't be upset if

things don't go as planned.

Taurus

Things will flow smoothly for you,

Taurus. There's barely a reason for

you to lift a finger. You have the

good fortune of enjoying this day

with very little effort on your part. Keep in mind

that if you decide to get something done, you will

be extremely successful and able to accomplish

quite a bit. You're in sync with today's energy.

Gemini

People aren't going to want to be

quite as intense as you require

today, Gemini. Things are light

and airy. You may find that no one

is in the mood to delve as deeply

as you want to go. Use the day to relax and

release control for a while. Take deep breaths

and long walks. Go for a bike ride or short road

trip. Crazy, unexpected events may crop up

throughout the day. Be prepared for surprises.

cancer

It may be hard for you to make a

decision about anything today,

Cancer. Things may seem wishywashy

and unclear. Don't worry

about it. There is plenty of air to fuel your fire. Be

aware that people may pop up from the past and

unexpected events may disrupt the flow

throughout the day. Best-laid plans are apt to be

broken. Don't sweat it. Just go with the flow.

Leo

Things probably aren't going to go

exactly as you planned today, Leo.

Realize that people may act in

erratic, powerful bursts, especially

when it comes to emotional issues. Your feelings

may be a bit distant, and you may find it hard to

get in touch with what's really going on inside

you. Do your best to maintain a positive attitude.

That's all anyone can ask.

Virgo

Today is an excellent day for you,

Virgo. Events will flow quite

smoothly. The only thing to be aware

of is that your emotions may seem

rather erratic and unwieldy. There's a great deal of

power behind your words and people are sure to

listen. They would be smart to do so. What you have

to say will be right on target with today's energy.

Libra

You may be indecisive today,

Libra. You may not be able to find

solutions you can live with. You

don't need to finalize anything

now. Use this day to lay low and gather data.

People may seem rather insensitive and erratic.

Go with the flow. You have a great deal of

warmth and passion to share. You may find that

a strong, unpredictable force is affecting your

emotions.

scorpio

There is plenty of air to fuel your

fire today, Scorpio. You're able to

get quite a bit done. Multitasking

is key to accomplishing what you

want to do. An element of the unexpected is

likely to add a surprising dimension to the day.

You're able to communicate freely, and you will

likely be on the same page with the people you

meet.

sagittarius

You may need to make some

slight adjustments in order to get

through to people today,

Sagittarius. The pace may be a bit

faster than you'd like. Remember that people

aren't mind readers. They won't be sensitive

enough to pick up on your subtle messages. If

you want to get something across, state it clearly

and succinctly. Feel free to explore the

unconventional and bizarre.

capricorn

Today is an excellent day for you,

Capricorn. You will receive some

bursts of unexpected energy that

help you accomplish whatever it is

you wish to do. You should enjoy a favorable

mood and good relations with others all day.

Enjoy yourself and feel free to indulge in things

that make you happy. Spend time with your

family and let them share in your positive

energy flow.

Aquarius

Things may be moving a bit too

quickly today for you to grab hold

of anything, Aquarius. There's an

element of the unexpected

entering into the equation. Be prepared. The

mood of the day is especially light and perhaps a

bit superficial. People may not be entirely

reliable. If there's something you absolutely

need to do, consider doing it by yourself.

Pisces

Enjoy the day today, Pisces. Take

control of the situation and make the

most of whatever comes your way. Do

it with a smile. There's a great deal of

fun-loving, excited energy ready for you to draw upon.

Get your ideas out to others. Communicate your

thoughts. Attend a party or two. You're the epitome of

the social butterfly. Make sure to wear your best attire.


SuNDAY, JuNe 27, 2021

11

The culvert of the road in Madhya Tikaria area of Ashidron union of Srimangal upazila of

Moulvibazar has broken and turned into a death trap.

Photo: PBA

China does not consider India a strategic

rival: Ambassador Li Jiming

DHAKA : Chinese Ambassador to

Bangladesh Li Jiming has said

emphasized that China never takes India

as a "strategic rival" rather they consider

India a good neighbour of China.

"I would say, we never take India as a

strategic rival. We still hope that the

China-India relationship can be

improved. So, never imagine that China

would like to have any hostile or rival

attitude to India. That's not the case,"

said the envoy.

He made the remarks while

responding to a question at an online

symposium titled "Bangladesh-China

Relations: Prognosis for the Future"

hosted by the Cosmos Foundation and

premiered on its Facebook page on

Thursday evening.

Cosmos Foundation Chairman

Enayetullah Khan delivered the opening

remarks at the event while Dr. Iftekhar

Ahmed Chowdhury, renowned scholardiplomat

and adviser on foreign affairs

to the last caretaker government,

chaired the session.

Ambassador (retd) Tariq A. Karim,

CPD Distinguished Fellow Dr.

Debapriya Bhattacharya, former

Foreign Secretary Shamsher M.

Chowdhury, Assistant Researcher of the

Institute for International Studies at

Biden vows 'sustained'

help as Afghanistan

drawdown nears

WASHINGTON : President

Joe Biden on Friday promised

Afghanistan's top leaders a

"sustained" partnership even

as he moves to accelerate

winding down the United

States' longest war amid

escalating Taliban violence,

reports UNB.

Afghan President Ashraf

Ghani and Abdullah

Abdullah, chair of the High

Council for National

Reconciliation, met at the

Pentagon with Defense

Secretary Lloyd Austin before

their sit-down with Biden at

the White House later in the

afternoon. While Biden vowed

that the U.S. was committed

to assisting Afghanistan, he

also insisted that it was time

for the American military to

step back.

"Afghans are going to have

to decide their future," Biden

said in brief remarks at the

start of his meeting with the

Afghan leaders. Biden did not

elaborate on what a

"sustained" partnership might

entail.

The leaders' visit to

Washington comes as the

Biden administration has

stepped up plans for

withdrawal ahead of the

president's Sept. 11 deadline to

end a nearly 20-year-old war

that has come with a

breathtaking human cost.

Ghani also paid a visit on his

own Friday to House Speaker

Nancy Pelosi and with House

Republican lawmakers. He

met with Senate Minority

Leader Mitch McConnell on

Thursday.

More than 2,400 U.S.

troops have been killed and

20,000 wounded in the war

since 2001, according to the

Defense Department. It's

estimated that over 3,800 U.S.

private security contractors

have been killed.

Yunnan University Dr Zou Yingmeng,

Assistant Research Fellow at China

Institute of International Studies Dr

Ning Shengnan, former Ambassador

Serajul Islam and Dhaka University

Professor Dr Rashed Al Mahmud

Titumir comprised the panel of

discussants.

The Chinese Ambassador mentioned

a number of platforms where the two

countries are working together. "We're

still working very, very well together,

very closely."

Ambassador Li, as the Chinese

Ambassador to India's neighboring

country - Bangladesh, hoped that this

China-India relationship would be

improved more in the future.

Historically, they envoy said, they

have more than 2000 to 3000 years of

good relationship with India, and any

Chinese intellectual like himself has a

special feeling for Indian culture.

"Any Chinese intellectual, who is

well-educated, would have a special

feeling. A good feeling, towards India -

that is something untold publicly

probably," he said.

Enayetullah Khan fondly recalled

interviewing the present Chinese

Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing

back in 2004 (when he was the Vice-

Foreign Minister) when Minister Yi

talked about new foreign policy which

is good neighborly relations with their

neighbors.

"I asked, where does Bangladesh

stand? His immediate answer was -

Bangladesh could be the bridge

between India and China," Khan said,

going down his memory lane.

As one of the discussants raised the

Quad issue - the 4-country alliance

between the USA, Australia, Japan and

India, that is seen as anti-Beijing. The

Ambassador took the opportunity to

explain what he said on the issue of

Bangladesh possibly being invited to

join, at a particular programme.

"As an Ambassador to Bangladesh,

the first foreign policy lesson I learned

is that Bangladesh adheres to the idea

of "friendship to all and malice to

none." So, I have full confidence that

Bangladesh will not be part of that

small clique," he said.

"But when I was asked if you would

like to see or do you think this is a good

idea for Bangladesh to do so, of course,

I would say no. What else can you

expect from me? Should I say yes?

That would have been ridiculous. So

that is the story about Quad,"

Ambassador Li added.

Knife attack in German city leaves

3 dead, suspect arrested

BERLIN : A man armed with a long knife

killed three people and injured five others,

some seriously, in Germany's southern

city of Wuerzburg on Friday before being

shot by police and arrested, authorities

said, reports UNB.

Police identified the suspect as a 24-

year-old Somali man living in Wuerzburg.

His life was not in danger from his

gunshot wound, they said.

Bavaria's top security official Joachim

Herrmann said the injured include a

young boy, whose father was probably

among the dead.

The suspect was in psychiatric treatment

before the attack and had been known to

police, Herrmann said. There was no

immediate word on a possible motive.

Videos posted on social media showed

pedestrians surrounding the attacker and

trying to hold him at bay with chairs and

sticks.

A woman who said she had witnessed

the incident told German RTL television

that the police then stepped in.

"He had a really big knife with him and

was attacking people," Julia Runze said.

"And then many people tried to throw

chairs or umbrellas or cellphones at him

and stop him."

"The police then approached him and I

think a shot was fired, you could hear that

clearly."

Police spokeswoman Kerstin Kunick

said officers were alerted around 5 p.m.

(1500 GMT) to a knife attack on

Barbarossa Square in the center of the

city. Wurzburg is a city of about 130,000

people located between Munich and

Frankfurt.

Bavaria's governor Markus Soeder

expressed shock at the news of the attack.

"We grieve with the victims and their

families," he wrote on Twitter.

"A big thank you and respect for the

spirited intervention by many citizens,

who confronted the suspected attacker in

a determined way," Soeder added. "And

also to all first responders for their work at

the scene."

Almost five years ago a 17-year-old

refugee from Afghanistan wounded four

people with an ax on a train near

Wuerzburg. He then fled and attacked a

woman passer-by before police shot him

dead.

Rab members arrested a terrorist with pistol in Baraigram of Natore yesterday.

Photo : Tofazzol Hossain

Bangladesh-Korea

CSR virtual

conference Sunday

DHAKA : A Bangladesh-

South Korea conference on

Corporate

Social

Responsibility (CSR) and

economic growth will be held

virtually on Sunday to discuss

ways to further deepen

Korean companies'

engagement with local

communities, reports UNB.

The South Korean

Embassy in Dhaka and the

CSR Centre in partnership

with Korea Trade Investment

Promotion Agency (KOTRA)

Dhaka office are jointly

organizing the "Korea-

Bangladesh CSR Conference

2021: CSR for Human

Resource Development and

Economic Growth".

The conference will be held

from 5pm to 6:35pm.

Planning Minister MA

Mannan will join the event as

the chief guest.

Corporate Social

Responsibility (CSR) is

increasingly becoming

important, especially for

developing nations, said the

Korean Embassy in Dhaka.

As Bangladesh strives

towards attaining economic

development with the target

set out in the Sustainable

Development Goals, it said.

Representatives from

Youngone Corporation,

Samsung R and D Institute

(SRBD), Samsung

Electronics, Hyundai E and

C, and Dohwa Engineering

will present their respective

CSR activities in Bangladesh.

6 troops killed, 15 UN peacekeepers

wounded in separate Mali attacks

BAMAKO : Six Malian soldiers were killed

on Friday in a raid in the centre of the war-torn

Sahel state, in a violent day which also saw 15

United Nations peacekeepers wounded in a

car-bomb attack further north, reports BSS.

The UN said on Twitter that an evacuation

was under way after a car bomb struck a

temporary base near Tarkint, in the lawless

north of Mali.

German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-

Karrenbauer said 12 of the peacekeepers were

German and that three were seriously injured.

Two of the three were in a stable condition,

she said in a statement, while one has

undergone surgery. All of the wounded have

been evacuated by helicopter, Kramp-

Karrenbauer added.

One Belgian soldier was also injured in the

attack, according to a Belgian defence ministry

statement.

About 13,000 troops from several nations

are deployed in the UN's MINUSMA

peacekeeping mission across the vast semiarid

country.

Mali is struggling to contain an Islamist

insurgency that erupted in 2012 and which has

claimed thousands of military and civilian

lives.

Despite the presence of thousands of French

and UN troops, the conflict has engulfed the

centre of the country and spread to

neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

A security official, who declined to be

identified, told AFP that the MINUSMA

forward operating base attacked on Friday was

only set up the previous day, after a land mine

damaged a UN vehicle in the area.

The peacekeepers set up the base in order to

remove the damaged vehicle, the security

official said.

Separately on Friday, militants also attacked

a Malian military outpost in the village of Boni

in the centre of the country, killing six soldiers

and injuring another. Mali's army stated on

Twitter that the troops had "vigorously

responded" to "simultaneous attacks"

launched in Boni in the afternoon.

Ten Malian soldiers had been killed in a

similar ambush in Boni in February.

Central Mali-which is the epicentre of the

conflict in the Sahel-also saw six French

soldiers and four civilians wounded on

Monday when a car bomb detonated near a

French armoured car.

Former colonial power France, which

intervened in Mali in 2013 to beat back the

jihadists, currently has 5,100 soldiers deployed

across the Sahel region.

But French President Emmanuel Macron

announced earlier this month that he would

wind down the Barkhane force.

France plans to refocus its energies on

strengthening an international task force of

special forces in Mali, known as Takuba.

A worker on whom a family depends. The picture was taken from Jamgarh in Ashulia area of Dhaka

on Saturday.

Photo: PBA

'Only going to get

hotter': Heat wave

blasts Northwest

SEATTLE : Seattle has only

hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit

(38 degrees Celsius) three

times in recorded history.

The National Weather

Service says the city could

top triple digits several times

in the coming days and may

eclipse the all-time record of

103 F (39 C) on Monday,

reports UNB.

The Pacific Northwest

sweltered as a historic heat

wave hit Washington and

Oregon, with temperatures

in many areas expected to

top out up to 30 degrees

above normal.

"If you're keeping a

written list of the records

that will fall, you might need

a few pages by early next

week," NWS Seattle tweeted.

The extreme and

dangerous heat was

expected to break all-time

records in cities and towns

from eastern Washington

state to southern Oregon as

concerns mounted about

wildfire risk in a region that's

already experiencing a

crippling and extended

drought.

Seattle was expected to edge

above 100 F © over the

weekend and in Portland,

Oregon, weather forecasters

said the thermometer could

soar to 108 F (42 C) by Sunday,

breaking an all-time record of

107 F (42 C) set in 1981.

Unusually hot weather was

expected to extend into next

week for much of the region.

Three MSF aid workers

killed in Ethiopia's Tigray

NAIROBI : One Spanish and two Ethiopian

employees of the medical charity Medecins

Sans Frontieres (MSF) have been "brutally

murdered" in Ethiopia's war-torn northern

Tigray region, the organisation said Friday.

The trio "were travelling yesterday

afternoon when we lost contact with them.

This morning, their vehicle was found empty

and a few metres away, their lifeless bodies,"

the international aid group said in a

statement.

"No words can truly convey all our sadness,

shock and outrage against this horrific

attack."

The conflict in Tigray began in November,

when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

sent troops in to oust the dissident regional

leadership, promising a swift victory.

But the fighting continues nearly eight

months later, and has triggered a

humanitarian crisis which the United

Nations warns has left 350,000 people on the

brink of famine.

MSF, or Doctors Without Borders, named

the Spanish victim as 35-year-old aid

coordinator Maria Hernandez from Madrid.

She started working with MSF in 2015 in

the Central African Republic and had since

worked in Yemen, Mexico and Nigeria.

The other victims were Yohannes Halefom

Reda, a 31-year-old coordination assistant

who had joined MSF in February, and Tedros

Gebremariam Gebremichael, also 31, who

had been a driver for the charity since May.

"We condemn this attack on our colleagues

in the strongest possible terms and will be

relentless in understanding what happened,"

said MSF, which was founded in Paris but is

headquartered in Geneva and has several

global affiliates.

"Maria, Yohannes and Tedros were in

Tigray providing assistance to people, and it

is unthinkable that they paid for this work

Man jumps from

moving plane at Los

Angeles airport

A passenger was taken to the hospital Friday

night after jumping out of a moving plane at

Los Angeles International Airport,

authorities said.

United Express flight 5365, operated by

SkyWest, was pulling away from a gate

shortly after 7 p.m. when the man

unsuccessfully tried to breach the cockpit,

then managed to open the service door and

jumped down the emergency slide onto the

tarmac, according to the airport and

SkyWest, reports UNB.

The man was taken into custody on the

taxiway, treated for injuries that were not

life-threatening and taken to the hospital,

authorities said.

The twin-engine Embraer 175, which was

headed to Salt Lake City, returned to its gate,

the airport said.

with their lives."

The UN called for Ethiopia to launch a swift

investigation into the killings.

Ramesh Rajasingham, the UN's acting

assistant secretary-general for humanitarian

affairs, described the attack as "outrageous

and saddening".

"Authorities must now promptly

investigate these reports of serious violations

of international humanitarian law," he added.

The United States echoed the call for an

independent investigation, saying it was

"appalled and deeply saddened" to hear

about the "indefensible" killings.

"The Government of Ethiopia ultimately

bears full responsibility for ensuring the

safety of humanitarian workers and free and

unhindered access to humanitarian

assistance," US State Department

spokesperson Ned Price added.

The European Union's chief diplomat

Josep Borrell said the bloc condemned the

aid workers' killings "in the strongest possible

terms", adding: "This atrocity is another

horrific example of the escalation of the

conflict in Tigray."

In a tweet, Spanish Foreign Minister

Arancha Gonzalez Laya expressed her "great

sadness" and said she was in contact with

Ethiopian authorities to "clarify" what

happened and repatriate Hernandez's

remains.

The Ethiopian foreign ministry confirmed

that three humanitarian workers had been

killed in the Abi Adi area, 50 kilometres (30

miles) from the regional capital Mekele,

adding that the Tigray People's Liberation

Front (TPLF) operate in the region.

Violence in the area has increased in recent

days.

On Tuesday at least 64 people were killed

and 180 injured in an air strike on a market in

the Tigray region.


Sunday, Dhaka, June 27, 2021, Ashar 13, 1428 BS, Zilqad 15, 1442 Hijri

Delta the 'most transmissible' of

variants identified so far: WHO

Cox's Bazar district correspondent of The Bangladesh Today Shafiul Alam greeted the Chairman of

the Department of Oceanography, University of Dhaka and also acting Editor of The Bangladesh

Today with flower during the visit to Cox's Bazar with his wife.

Photo : TBT

Chauvin gets

22 ½ years in

prison for George

Floyd's death

MINNEA POLIS : Former

Minneapolis police Officer Derek

Chauvin has been sentenced to 22 ½

years in prison for the murder of

George Floyd, whose dying gasps

under Chauvin's knee led to the biggest

outcry against racial injustice in the

U.S. in generations, reports UNB.

The punishment handed out Friday

fell short of the 30 years that prosecutors

had requested.

With good behavior, Chauvin, 45,

could be paroled after serving twothirds

of his sentence, or about 15 years.

Former police Officer Derek Chauvin

broke his long courtroom silence Friday

as he faced sentencing for the murder of

George Floyd, offering condolences to

Floyd's family and saying he hopes more

information coming out will give them

"some peace of mind."

Chauvin, who did not testify at his

trial, removed his COVID-19 and turned

toward the Floyd family, speaking only

briefly because of what he called "some

additional legal matters at hand" - an

apparent reference to the federal civil

rights trial he still faces.

"But very briefly, though, I do want to

give my condolences to the Floyd family.

There's going to be some other information

in the future that would be of

interest. And I hope things will give you

some some peace of mind," he said,

without elaborating.

Hisattorney Eric Nelson called Floyd's

death "tragic," and that Chauvin"s

"brain is littered with what-ifs" from the

day: "What if I just did not agree to go in

that day? What if things had gone differently?

What if I never responded to that

call? What if what if what if?"

Floyd's family members took the

stand and expressed sorrow about his

death. They asked for the maximum

penalty.

Govt determined to

take education sector

forward: Zakir

DHAKA : State Minister for

Primary and Mass Education Md

Zakir Hossain yesterday lauded the

initiatives taken by Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina for the education

sector and said that the government

under her dynamic leadership

is taking the sector forward.

"Father of the Nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman believed that education is

the key to overall development and

prosperity of the nation. That's

why he nationalized 36,165 schools

and 1,57,724 teachers.

Following this, his worthy

daughter Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina nationalized 26,193 private

schools including teachers,"

he said at a review meet, said a

release here.

The state minister was addressing

a meeting to review the

achievements of Reaching Out-of-

School Children (ROSK) Phase-II

at LGED building in Sher-e-Bangla

Nagar, jointly organized by LGED

and DPE.

"The government has been providing

various trainings to teachers

including distribution of free textbooks

to improve the quality of primary

education.

Cooked food and high nutritional

rich biscuits are being served

among the needy students in poor

areas with the aim of increasing

the mental development and physical

nutrition of the students," he

said.

Mentioning that the 'ROSK'

Project has created a second education

opportunity and provided

technical education to the children

of the poorest families who have

not been able to complete the primary

education cycle, Zakir said,

"In future, this project will create

entrepreneurs who will create their

own employment as well as the

employment for others."

The state minister further said

that, "In order to maintain the continuity

of primary education activities

in spite of the ongoing Covid-

19 epidemic situation, 'Ghore Bose

Shikhi' lessons are being conducted

through Sangsad Bangladesh

Television with the aim of keeping

the students focused on their studies

and lessons in compliance with

hygiene norms as well as

Bangladesh Betar and all community

radios."

"Online classes have already

started through Zoom and Google

Meet and work is underway to

deliver worksheets to students

from door to door", the state minister

added, added the release.

The meeting was chaired by Md

Abdur Rashid Khan, Chief

Engineer, Department of Local

Government Engineering.

Director General of the

Department of Primary Education

Alamgir Md Mansurul Alam,

Additional Secretary, Ministry of

Primary and Mass Education Ratan

Chandra Pandit and ROSK Project

Director Md Mahbub Hasan Shahin

addressed the meeting.

UNITED NATIONS/GENEVA : The

Delta variant of COVID-19, identified in

at least 85 countries, is the "most transmissible"

of the variants identified so far

and is spreading rapidly among unvaccinated

populations, WHO chief Tedros

Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned,

reports BSS .

"I know that globally there is currently a

lot of concern about the Delta variant, and

the WHO is concerned about it too,"

Director-General Ghebreyesus said at a

WHO press briefing on Friday.

The Delta variant was first identified in

India. "Delta is the most transmissible of

the variants identified so far, has been

identified in at least 85 countries, and is

spreading rapidly among unvaccinated

populations," he said in Geneva. He noted

with concern that as some countries ease

public health and social measures, "we are

starting to see increases in transmission

around the world.

"More cases means more hospitalisations,

further stretching health workers

and health systems, which increases the

risk of death," he said.

While pointing out that new COVID-19

variants are expected and will continue to

Indian Air Force

Chief in city

DHAKA : Indian Air Chief Marshal

Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria

arrived in Dhaka on Saturday on a

three-day visit. The visit of the Indian

Air Force Chief in the year of Golden

Jubilee of Bangladesh's independence

will further "strengthen the close and

fraternal ties" existing between the

Armed Forces of the two countries, officials

said.

The Indian Air Chief is visiting

Bangladesh at the invitation from the

Chief of Air Staff, Bangladesh Air Force.

The Indian Air Force Chief is scheduled

to pay courtesy calls to all senior

officers of the Bangladesh Armed Forces

and will meet other senior officers from

the Bangladesh Air Force, said the

Indian High Commission in Dhaka.

He will also be visiting major BAF air

bases across Bangladesh during the

course of his visit.

The Indian Air Force Chief would

also be paying tribute to the members

of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, who

made the supreme sacrifices during the

Liberation War of 1971, by laying

wreath at the altar of Shikha Anirban at

Dhaka Cantonment.

A major highlight of his current visit

is that, the Chief of Air Staff, Indian Air

Force, has been invited as the Chief

Guest of Commissioning Ceremony on

the occasion of President Parade-2021

at Bangladesh Air Force Academy

(BAFA), Jessore.

This is the first time that an Indian

Air Chief would have the distinct honour

of reviewing the Parade of BAFA,

which goes on to show the strong commitment

and trust that both Air Forces

have towards each other.

be reported, "that's what viruses do, they

evolve - but we can prevent the emergence

of variants by preventing transmission."

In a strong warning, Dr Maria Van

Kerkhove, COVID-19 Technical Lead at

the WHO said the Delta variant is a "dangerous"

virus and is more transmissible

than the Alpha variant, which was itself

extremely transmissible across Europe

and any country that it entered.

"The Delta variant is even more transmissible,"

she said, adding that the WHO

is seeing trajectories of incidents that are

almost "vertical" in a number of countries

around the world.

Many European countries are witnessing

a decline in cases but there are a lot of

events happening across the region,

including large sporting or religious

events "or even backyard barbecues."

"All of these actions have consequences

and the Delta variant is spreading readily

among people who are unvaccinated,"

Kerkhove said. While some countries

have high percentages of people who are

vaccinated, yet the entire population of

those nations is not yet vaccinated and

many people have not received their second

dose or the full course of dose of the

COVID-19 vaccines, she said.

Kerkhove underlined that COVID-19

vaccines are "incredibly effective" at preventing

severe disease and death, including

against the Delta variant.

"The virus will continue to evolve. And

right now our public health and social

measures work, our vaccines work," the

diagnostics work and the therapeutics

work.

"But there may be a time where this

virus evolves and these countermeasures

don't. So we need some kind of

movement to pull ourselves together to

drive transmission down and keep it

down," she said.

Kerkhove warned that events that are

large scale and see huge crowds "will have

consequences. We are already starting to

see some consequences of these events

with increasing transmission again.

The Delta variant will make that epidemic

curve exponential," she warned.

She urged people to keep themselves safe

and make decisions individually about

what they need to do every day.

"There's a lot that all of us want to be

doing, but there's not a lot that we need to

be doing right now," she said.

COP26:Young people

urged to raise voice

to save planet

DHAKA : State Minister for Foreign Affairs

M Shahriar Alam has called upon the young

people and climate activists of Bangladesh

and the UK to join hands and emerge as the

greatest force for good for their respective

countries in protecting the planet. He urged

them to raise their voices at the COP26

and beyond, and be an asset to their local

communities in saving the planet, people

and nature for succeeding generations.

"There is no planet B or plan B."

The State Minister was addressing a youth

climate dialogue titled "Bangladesh-UK

Youth Voices on Climate Action: The Road

to Glasgow" held virtually on Friday night.

Bangladesh High Commission in

London, in collaboration with Tower

Hamlets Council, organized the youth

climate dialogue on the occasion of the

50th anniversaries of Bangladesh's

Independence and Bangladesh-UK diplomatic

relations. The event coincided with

and be a part of the London Climate Action

Week 2021.

Minister for London, Paul Scully MP

attended the event as the guest of honour

which was co-chaired by High

Commissioner of Bangladesh to Saida

Muna Tasneem and Mayor of the Tower

Hamlets Council John Biggs. Rushanara

Ali MP of the Tower Hamlets Borough

and Nahim Razzaq MP also attended.

Councillor Asma Islam, Cabinet

Member for Environment and Public

Realm (Job Share) - Lead on

Environment also spoke at the event.

Shahriar said under the extraordinary climate-stewardship

of Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina, Bangladesh has emerged a global

leader in adaptation, climate-resilience, and

nature-based climate solutions. "We are

also submitting ambitious and quantified

NDCs ahead of COP26 including a renewable

energy target of 40% by 2041," he said.

Bangladesh Parliament was the first in

South Asia to declare a "Planetary Emergency"

and called on the world to work "on a warfooting"

to stop climate change.

Bangladesh government is spending on

an average 2.5% of our GDP, US$5 billion

each year in climate adaptation and

resilience-building alongside the

Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100, he added.

"Without waiting for external; financing

our government implemented more than

800 climate action projects from PM

Sheikh Hasina's self-financed 450 million

US$ National Climate Change Trust

Fund," said the State Minister.

He said Bangladesh looks forward to

UK's robust and ambitious climate leadership

at the COP26 and beyond specially

in securing mitigation commitments

by the G20 to curb global emissions substantially,

arrest global temperatures at

1.5 degrees, secure maximal climate

finance especially the promised 100 billion

USD each year.

Bangladesh and India urged to cooperate

on Meghna River basin

DHAKA : Speakers at a dialogue have

called on Bangladesh and India to boost

cooperation in protecting and promoting

the ecosystem services of the Meghna

River basin for the benefit of 50 million

people living in the region shared by the

two countries.

The two neighbours should work

together to the make the basin as one the

most vibrant regions of South Asia,

Planning Minister Abdul Mannan said.

"There is no alternative to cooperation

and working together," he said while

addressing the first ever knowledge forum

on the Meghna River basin, the minister

said, according to a release from

International Union for Conservation of

Nature (IUCN) on Saturday.

It is estimated that more than 50 million

people in Bangladesh and India depend

on the ecosystem services provided by the

basin, including indigenous forest

dependent communities such as the

Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia; and the fishermen

and farmers depending on the extensive

wetlands (Haors) of Sylhet region in

Bangladesh.

R. R. Sambharia, representing India's

Ministry of Jal Shakti and Senior Joint

Commissioner, Ground Water and Flood

Management, advised the IUCN to share

the result of the forum with the Joint River

Commission (JRC) of Bangladesh and

India, and its dissemination to the relevant

government departments at the state level.

To maintain the momentum created

through the Meghna Knowledge Forum

(MKF) 2021 and to attract international

donor agencies to the Meghna River basin,

IUCN will disseminate the forum outcomes

at the bilateral and global platforms,

such as IUCN World Conservation

Congress in Marseille France planned in

September 2021.

Malik Fida A Khan, Executive Director,

Center for Environmental and Geographic

Information Services, said the article 6 of

Framework Agreement for Cooperation

between Bangladesh and India, mandates

the two countries to work together for the

preservation of ecosystem of the shared

rivers.

"This provides an entry point for

strengthening the discourse on the formation

of Meghna River Basin Organization

(RBO), which needs to ensure multi-level

coordination for the sustainable management

of the Meghna basin."

More than 100 participants from across

the Meghna basin joined the three-day

forum held recently, said IUCN on

Saturday. The three-day forum laid the

foundation of a multi-stakeholder knowledge

exchange platform for the inclusive

management of the Meghna river basin.

Designed as a virtual event, the forum's

objective was to facilitate partnerships

among different stakeholders and sectors

to address knowledge gaps in the implementation

of an Integrated Water

Resource Management (IWRM) in the

Meghna River basin.

Chan (hay) is an important product in Bangladesh and it is also a cash crop in different areas. Chan is

used to make ropes, mats, bags, baskets, etc. In ancient times, chan ghar was used as a tent. The picture

was taken from Aolakandi Ghat in Dhunat upazila of Bogura on Saturday.

Photo: PBA

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